Players hoping to help Wilks win the full time job

[Mr. Scot]

From Joe Person in The Athletic (subscription required)

Shaq Thompson: Players want to help Wilks get the full time job

Excerpts:

Wilks booted Anderson from the game and would have been justified in cutting him had general manager Scott Fitterer not persuaded Arizona to send Carolina a pair of late-round draft picks in exchange for Anderson. Three days later, the Panthers traded All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco in a blockbuster deal that netted the Panthers four draft picks.

All the Panthers did after dealing McCaffrey was hang a 21-3 loss on the Bucs — nearly two-touchdown favorites — and finish with their highest rushing total in a year and beat Tom Brady for the first time in five meetings since he signed with Tampa Bay.

...

“Wilks is a Charlotte guy. He has nothing but respect from this team and this city,” Thompson said. “We’ve gotta go out there and get it done for him.”

Thompson likened Wilks’ interim tag with the Panthers to his one-year stint as the Cardinals coach in 2018, when Thompson said Wilks was “f—ed over” by getting fired after a 3-13 finish.

“We’re not trying to let that happen here,” Thompson added.

...

The thinking in league circles is that Tepper will try to hire an experienced offensive coach after the Rhule experiment failed. Tepper has interest in Sean Payton and enough money to outspend other interested teams for the former Saints coach, who is still under contract with New Orleans. But the Panthers don’t have a franchise quarterback — something Payton is believed to want — and it seems unlikely the Saints would trade him to a division rival.

Several up-and-coming offensive coordinators have been mentioned, including Philadelphia’s Shane Steichen, the Giants’ Mike Kafka and Buffalo’s Ken Dorsey, who was the Panthers’ quarterbacks coach under Rivera from 2013 to 2017.

Fitterer has ties to Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn from their time in Seattle. Quinn went to a Super Bowl with the Falcons, but that was with Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator.

Could Wilks force his way into the conversation by keeping the Panthers in contention in the South, or by getting into the playoffs, even with a losing record?

...

Nickelback Myles Hartsfield said players were walking to the practice field last week when Wilks pulled up a track on his phone from Major Nine, the Miami rapper (whose given name is Chad Thomas) who was a Browns defensive end when Wilks was the Browns defensive coordinator in 2019.

“All you see is coach Wilks start rapping,” Hartsfield said. “So it’s those little moments … you’re like, ‘OK, coach Wilks, we see you.’ It was kind of cool to see that experience of him joking around, being loose before practice. I know there’s probably a lot going on, but (he’s) able to show that he’s still coach Wilks.”

...

Keith Taylor, a second-year cornerback from the University of Washington, wasn’t familiar with Wilks when he came to Carolina in January as part of Rhule’s efforts to add experienced coaches to his staff. But Taylor said he was impressed with Wilks’ work with the defensive backs, and — like Thompson — is glad Wilks is getting another shot.

“I didn’t really know about him that much,” Taylor said. “But when I read about him, he only had that one year in Arizona. So I’m glad he’s getting the opportunity — a real, good opportunity. So as long as he’s taking advantage, we’re taking advantage of our opportunity, as well.”

[Varking]

Wilks seems like a good dude but I want an offensive mind 

[TheCasillas]

8 minutes ago, Varking said:

Wilks seems like a good dude but I want an offensive mind 

idc what kind of mind we have as long as we are winning football games.

[Castavar]

Wilks reminds me so much of Tomlin tbh Hell, if you close your eyes and listen to him during a press conference, you couldn't tell the difference. Sounds just like him.

But yeah, I'm conflicted. I want Wilks to succeed and make a run at the division, but doing so could cause us to miss out on not only a top draft pick for a QB, but an offensive mind that we've been clamoring for for a long time now.

[The Huddler]

maybe im a pos fan but all this winning hoopla is just making me roll my eyes. 

 

I just want a top pick so we can get a franchise QB to build on then we can win as many games as we want. Im tired of being in the middle because of moral victories.  smh

[Waldo]

He could make a good DC but we are not winning a SB with him as a HC. He is great for now because he comes from the Rivera school of football but that isn't what I want to see again in my lifetime as a HC.

Good dude, great shortterm option and bad long term option.

[raleigh-panther]

14 minutes ago, TheCasillas said:

idc what kind of mind we have as long as we are winning football games.

This right here…1000 times

[kungfoodude]

I would love everything about a CLT guy getting to make good here. 

But.....we are gonna have to come to terms with the fact that it's gonna be tough to contend without a very good OC that is gonna eventually leave.

If we can finally make it work out with a defensive coach, I am all for it. But......we've seen this story as Panthers fans quite a bit.

[PNW_PantherMan]

I don't think we need some offensive guru head coach to win.  We need a good QB and commitment from a roster building perspective of giving them a good line and weapons.  Cam would have had a lot more success under Ron if they had prioritized building around him.  As long as we have a GM that understands that, I would be ok with a defensive coach.

[KillaCamNewton]

I like Wilks but the idea that any players on this team think they have any leg to stand on campaigning for a coach is hilarious. This is not the 2001 Miami Hurricanes where they had a championship team and needed to keep a coach here so that he wouldnt get in the way

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

I don't think we need some offensive guru head coach to win.  We need a good QB and commitment from a roster building perspective of giving them a good line and weapons.  Cam would have had a lot more success under Ron if they had prioritized building around him.  As long as we have a GM that understands that, I would be ok with a defensive coach.

But part of that will need to come from having a good OC. It's a lot harder to win in the NFL without a modern NFL offense, which we don't have currently.

[Mr. Scot]

There's a lot of ways to look at it.

Sometimes there's pretty good benefit to be found in not doing what everyone else is doing. In the NFL, it can mean that other teams who've loaded up to battle against the most common type of scheme don't necessarily have what it takes to deal with you.

On the flipside, it's definitely true that more and better offense is where the league is headed. You've got to be able to keep up with that, and league rules have made that increasingly difficult for defensive coaches to do.

Tough decision...

Edited October 25, 2022 by Mr. Scot

[Prowler2k18]

20 minutes ago, Castavar said:

Wilks reminds me so much of Tomlin tbh Hell, if you close your eyes and listen to him during a press conference, you couldn't tell the difference. Sounds just like him.

But yeah, I'm conflicted. I want Wilks to succeed and make a run at the division, but doing so could cause us to miss out on not only a top draft pick for a QB, but an offensive mind that we've been clamoring for for a long time now.

Same here. If Wilks can get this team going the right direction, I’d be happy with keeping him as HC IF he agrees to hire a dynamic offensive play caller to complement a potential franchise QB. 

[4Corners]

Always a bit skeptical of interim HC success. Ra-ra guy playing with a lot of house money and almost no expectations. I like Wilkes a lot but I certainly would prefer a younger, progressice offensive mind.