I think Wilks has been told he has the job. (Speculation)

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

If true, why just sit back and take a loss though? That would look really bad on Wilks. For the record, I don’t want him anyways

[TLGPanthersFan]

No Wilks has not been told he has the job. Tepper has made some dumb moves but I don’t think he is that dumb. 
Wilks is more like Rivera and Fox then some people think. 

[TLGPanthersFan]

26 minutes ago, Panthering said:

Honestly that just sounds like a typical defensive head coach who just thinks it will eventually work until the clock hits 00:00

One thing the same between Wilks, Fox and Rivera. 
Always have a look of surprise when the clock hits 0 and they lost. 

[Sgt Schultz]

I don't think Tepper is stupid.  I do think he is naive to what works in the NFL, in maybe all facets. 

But, he relied on a guy who is clueless in the NFL when he hired a HC who was even more clueless about what it took to win in the NFL.

Indications are that he recognizes all that, but we will see if he actually learned from it.  Recognition is the first step, so it is not hopeless.

[MechaZain]

There's nothing to gain from doing that and Wilks is literally suing the league over hiring practices. Tepper might be football dumb but he's not money dumb.

Edited December 19, 2022 by MechaZain

[hepcat]

Wilks merely returned the team to a minimum level of NFL competency whereas before the Panthers were below the NFL standard with an unqualified and overmatched college head coach. 

That to me is not good enough to warrant getting the job. I still think Wilks should get an interview but they have to consider other candidates and make an informed decision. After yesterdays horrendous defensive performance, I’m not thrilled to keep Wilks. 

[mav1234]

Wilks had the perfect opportunity to near lock up the job yesterday - make some half time adjustments and come out and flip the game. Take the NFC South lead. He didn't. He will surely still get an interview but he doesn't seem the right person to turn this team truly around.

[ncstatekwi]

We will know soon.....

[Killah_Ray]

1 hour ago, mrcompletely11 said:

This man is suing the league and the cardinals.  There is no way Tepper has told him he has the job and still has to hold 2 shame interviews to minority coaches.  There is simply no way wilks would go for that.  He may be a shitty coach but he has integrity

Which is why naming him interim was head scratching because when he doesn’t get the job it feels like Tepper is setting himself up. 

[Jon Snow]

1 hour ago, Sgt Schultz said:

This is where I am, too @Jon Snow.  I an on board with everything in the OP except that.

Every now and then you go into a game, look at the two teams, and realize they both have the same path to victory.  Yesterday was one of those games.  Both teams have holes at QB which means they need to establish the run.  Both teams need to be able to stop the run.  Then it boils down to execution, turnovers (there were none), and a well-timed wrinkle or two.

One team did both of the things needed to win.  That same team also kept the chains moving.  The only adjustment we could make on defense was to tighten up the coverage and try to take the easy third down conversions away. 

On offense, I don't think they have enough faith in Darnold (or PJ for that matter) to open things up and try to make the run more effective.  Doing so might well have resulted in interceptions, which would have caused the game to get out of hand.  Known weakness that we try to avoid every week, the Steelers just recognized it and are pretty good against the run so they were able to dare us to do it.....which we did not.  The good news is that nobody on our remaining schedule is as good as the Steelers were against the run, but the map on what to do is drawn for even a dense coaching staff to see.

The talent on this team did not instantly get better when The Process was sent packing.  The roster has definite weaknesses.  Wilks was able to wring more success out of this team than The Process could dream about, but there is a limit......not only on the roster, but in the coaching staff, too. 

That is the penalty for waiting too long to pull the trigger and winding up with some strange, hybrid, PushMePullYou team and coaching staff.  Honestly, the results have been better than I expected.  That doesn't mean I'm happy about where we are, just that I expected worse.

I couldn't have said it any better.  Spot on brother. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

hehe nah 

[philit99]

2 hours ago, electro's horse said:

I wrote this on another forum that isn’t panthers specific so pardon some of the ”no poo” observations
 

The lack of radical or desperate in game adjustments, that frankly the panthers don’t have the personnel or coaching to make, make me think Wilks has been told he has the job

I was at the game so some details might be off here but it’s based on what I saw from 126.  

Steelers called a perfect game to take advantage of the panthers weaknesses. On defense they played cover 1/0 and dared darnold to beat them. As I can recall he only went deep twice; one was a badly under thrown ball to Marshall, and the other was to Marshall and drew an end zone PI. 

On offense, they did what a bunch of teams have done with their run game against the panthers which is head to the outside. Panthers are bad at contain; burns struggles when the ball is run at his side, and they don’t really have a good DE opposite him.
 

Additionally, the panthers can’t cover wide well with their linebackers; just not a very fast group. The previous two problems are so bad I wouldn’t be upset if the panthers went LB or DE in the draft, pending what they do with coaching/qb  

to make matters worse, the Steelers feasted on the panthers fifth string DB. Keith Taylor jr should not have been single covering anyone, but I don’t think they have the personnel to make up for it. Chinn (played well yesterday) was needed in the box, and woods is garbage. Pretty clear that strategy was just to not get beat deep and hope the blitz could get trubisky. They only completed one deep pass, and that was an uncalled OPI (and a badass catch on top of that so I’m not upset)

Anyway, the panthers never panicked and changed anything. The panthers played like they understood their weaknesses and limitations, and that they aren’t changing that this year, to say nothing of halftime.
 

Sorta struck me as the actions of someone who’s had a conversation and been given some assurances. You’d think if Wilks was feeling like he’s gone with a loss he would have changed the game plan, limitations be damned. they would have gone for it on fourth down in the red zone, or taken more deep shots or something. And in a better situations there are definitely calls I question, but it is what it is right now. 
 

if another team limits turnovers and takes away our running game it’s going to be difficult for the panthers to win. The players aren’t on the roster. We play fox balls and frankly I think that’s the right move for the team right now. 

Anyway that’s my thought on the situation

Great analysis, especially on the personnel and packages. The NFL is a copycat league, you can be sure we will see that formula from here on out (until we beat it). I think Tepper is a wild card. He gave assurances to Rhule that he had the rest of the year, then he fired him mid season. The fans have more sway with Tepper than you think, and Tepper has made some decisions based on how the fans are reacting. I wouldn’t crown Wilks just yet. That sea of red for the 49ers and yellow for the Steelers is embarrassing and disgusting . We have to do better.

P.S. God rest Electros horse.

Edited December 19, 2022 by philit99

[Tr3ach]

2 hours ago, electro's horse said:

I wrote this on another forum that isn’t panthers specific so pardon some of the ”no poo” observations
 

The lack of radical or desperate in game adjustments, that frankly the panthers don’t have the personnel or coaching to make, make me think Wilks has been told he has the job

I was at the game so some details might be off here but it’s based on what I saw from 126.  

Steelers called a perfect game to take advantage of the panthers weaknesses. On defense they played cover 1/0 and dared darnold to beat them. As I can recall he only went deep twice; one was a badly under thrown ball to Marshall, and the other was to Marshall and drew an end zone PI. 

On offense, they did what a bunch of teams have done with their run game against the panthers which is head to the outside. Panthers are bad at contain; burns struggles when the ball is run at his side, and they don’t really have a good DE opposite him.
 

Additionally, the panthers can’t cover wide well with their linebackers; just not a very fast group. The previous two problems are so bad I wouldn’t be upset if the panthers went LB or DE in the draft, pending what they do with coaching/qb  

to make matters worse, the Steelers feasted on the panthers fifth string DB. Keith Taylor jr should not have been single covering anyone, but I don’t think they have the personnel to make up for it. Chinn (played well yesterday) was needed in the box, and woods is garbage. Pretty clear that strategy was just to not get beat deep and hope the blitz could get trubisky. They only completed one deep pass, and that was an uncalled OPI (and a badass catch on top of that so I’m not upset)

Anyway, the panthers never panicked and changed anything. The panthers played like they understood their weaknesses and limitations, and that they aren’t changing that this year, to say nothing of halftime.
 

Sorta struck me as the actions of someone who’s had a conversation and been given some assurances. You’d think if Wilks was feeling like he’s gone with a loss he would have changed the game plan, limitations be damned. they would have gone for it on fourth down in the red zone, or taken more deep shots or something. And in a better situations there are definitely calls I question, but it is what it is right now. 
 

if another team limits turnovers and takes away our running game it’s going to be difficult for the panthers to win. The players aren’t on the roster. We play fox balls and frankly I think that’s the right move for the team right now. 

Anyway that’s my thought on the situation

That's just who Wilks is as a coach.  Hes a good leader and motivator but that's about it.  Hes not going to out scheme someone or be known for making adjustments.   Hes said as much in every interview.  These are their "strengths" and that's what they're going to do.

[Jon Snow]

1 hour ago, OldhamA said:

Well yeah, cos Horn is an elite CB. Taylor is a press-man CB - why ask your 4th CB to do anything that he's not good at?

You will have to ask Wilks that question.  I was hoping someone on the sideline would bring it up during the game but you saw what happened.