It’s excellent news for the Carolina Panthers that NFL teams haven’t started announcing head coach hires aside from internal appointments.
Over the next 365 days, the Charlotte-based team will encounter at least 100 distinct circumstances, 99 of which are appalling.
There is absolutely no reason to believe any of the lists of individuals linked to the vacant head coaching position—this would be the eighth such coach under owner David Tepper in six years.
Either an internal hire or an unfortunate unknown yes-man who won’t oppose Tepper’s erroneous vice hold on the team will be the head coach at Carolina.
He’ll be another fall person for a team that, after a 2–15 season that resulted in an incredibly stupid deal last year that awarded the Chicago Bears the first overall pick in the 2024 draft, can’t seem to get out of its own way.
But somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s a dream that maybe—just maybe—something amazing will occur in the upcoming weeks.
No, I don’t mean Pete Carroll, Dabo Sweeney, Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick, or any other successful senior head coach.
Rather, I’m hoping Tepper would swallow his ego and beg former defensive coordinator and acting head coach Steve Wilks to return to his hometown, which would be the best move he’s made since assuming control of the team in 2018.
I realise this is a pipe dream, but of the 100 possible outcomes I can think of, this is the only one that will lead to a successful conclusion to the 2024–2025 season. It will take a miracle for Tepper to live up to his reputation as the worst NFL owner, and Wilks should have the chance to be the real deal in his hometown as head coach.
Wilks’s return could accomplish both. To refresh your memory, Wilks was the team’s interim coach at the conclusion of the 2022–2023 season when Tepper fired Matt Rhule, leading the team to a 6–6 finish.
The original Charlotte resident, who attended Appalachian State University, is currently the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. From 2012 to 2014, he was the defensive backs coach for the Panthers, and from 2015 to 2017, when the team made it to Super Bowl 50, he was the assistant head coach.
In 2017, he was promoted to defensive coordinator, and the Panthers ended the year with the third-best rush defence and seventh-best total defence.
The fans and players adored him, and he gained a degree of respect that Tepper’s prior head coaches were unable to accomplish.
In this case, Tepper wouldn’t be the only one to swallow his pride. With the 2023 season approaching, Wilks was passed over by Frank Reich, the former coach of the Indianapolis Colts, for the official head coaching position. As a result, Wilks moved to San Francisco, where he will most likely be coaching the 49ers defence in the Super Bowl the following month.
In addition, he has been interviewing for head coaching jobs; earlier this week, the San Diego Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons both published the results of their interviews. Seeing Wilks in Atlanta would be a slight to the 54-year-old after Tepper treated him disrespectfully, but it would still be fair.
Panthers fans will simply have to wait patiently to see which of the 99 out of 100 worst situations comes to pass as the team that Carolina employs won’t be revealed until after the season.
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