Bio Blast: Get to Know Panthers Interim Head Coach Steve Wilks
The Matt Rhule era has officially come to an end in Carolina. The 38-game stint where the team won just 11 of those contests was marred by poor quarterback play, an inability to adapt to challenges faced, and an overall lack of identity week to week for a young team in desperate need of one.
Rhule was, and will likely be again, a fine college coach who is best suited for developing a program of students. The NFL is a whole different beast though, and the Panthers are a team oozing to be unlocked and led to performances much more in line with the talent on the roster.
While the long-term answer at head coach is a question that will not be answered for many months, the Panthers still have 12 more games to play and cannot allow that time to go to waste. Enter interim head coach Steve Wilks.
Wilks is a name familiar to many Panthers fans, as this is not his first stint with the team. Serving a variety of roles on Ron Rivera's defensive staff from 2012-18, he is very familiar with the Panthers organization, as well as the Carolinas as a whole.
Wilks, a West Charlotte High School graduate, played college ball at Appalachian State as a defensive back from 1987-91. Wilks also played for the Charlotte Rage of the AFL during the 1993 season. His first coaching job was at Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, serving as defensive coordinator in 1995-96.
He worked his way through a variety of defensive coaching positions in the college ranks over the decade that followed, most notably serving as defensive backs coach at Appalachian State in 2001 and Notre Dame in 2004.
His first crack at coaching in the NFL came in 2006 with the Chicago Bears, when then-defensive coordinator Ron Rivera hired him as a defensive backs coach. Wilks followed Rivera to San Diego, and eventually, Carolina as a mainstay over the former Panthers head coach's staff for years.
Once in Carolina, Wilks truly began to make a name for himself. The Panthers were a defensive powerhouse for much of Wilks's time in Carolina, and he was a large reason why. He was able to take advantage of the talent present, and develop more of it with players like former fifth-round pick Josh Norman performing at All-Pro levels.
The peak of this came in 2015 when Wilks- who had been promoted to Assistant Head Coach by this time- helped guide the defense to a league lead in takeaways, including a league-leading 24 interceptions en route to a Super Bowl appearance.
After Sean McDermott left to become the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Wilks became a hot commodity league-wide quickly while serving as the Panthers' Defensive Coordinator. His prowess for understanding the ins and outs of the defensive game led him to interviewing for multiple head coaching positions before ultimately being hired by the Arizona Cardinals following the 2017 season.
Wilks lasted only one season in Arizona, compiling a league-worst 3-13 record with a decimated Cardinals squad. Though his first head coaching attempt in the NFL didn't go how he'd like, Wilks has found his footing and has served as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns and for the University of Missouri, before returning to Carolina this season as a defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach.
Wilks is walking into a tough spot with a team that is set to play the majority of its remaining games on the road with one of the toughest schedules in the league, as well as a starting quarterback in Baker Mayfield that is set to miss multiple weeks. The hometown guy for the Panthers is up to the task though. He won't be asked to turn this into a playoff team overnight, but rather to keep things steady to allow for the necessary evaluations for the future.
Things aren't going to get any easier for the 1-4 Panthers - if anything it will be harder. But with the weight of a former coach lifted off the shoulders, the team under Wilks should be able to go out and play some football without expectations.
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