Steve Wilks Deserves To Be an NFL Head Coach

If it's not in Carolina, Steve Wilks should get other opportunities.

Following the firings of Tony Dungy and Dennis Green in 2003, the NFL adopted what is known as the Rooney Rule. 

Initially, the rule required that each organization with a head coaching vacancy interview at least one minority candidate. After years of teams simply just interviewing one minority candidate to abide by the rule and not seriously consider that lone candidate, the NFL made an adjustment to the Rooney Rule requiring organizations to interview at least two minority candidates.

In this coaching cycle, some teams are going well beyond the two required and are requesting permission to speak with three or four minority candidates. It's a positive sign but it doesn't mean anything if none of them actually get the job. 

One guy that is the most deserving of an opportunity is Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks.

To my knowledge, Wilks has completed just one head coaching interview which was with team owner David Tepper this Tuesday.

At this time, other teams with head coaching vacancies can request permission to speak with Wilks about their jobs since he is not currently the full-time head coach. For whatever reason, no one has. 

Why is this?

Has Wilks made it clear that he wants the Panthers' job only? Or maybe that he isn't entertaining other opportunities until he knows what happens with the Panthers' job? Both are very possible. But it could also be possible that other organizations don't view him as someone that could be successful outside of Carolina. 

The question is, how can you look at the job he did this year and not be impressed? I mean, the team was 1-4 when he took over and in the subsequent week, he had two of his offensive starters traded - RB Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and WR Robbie Anderson (Arizona). 

On top of all that, in his first few games as interim head coach, Wilks had to trot out P.J. Walker at quarterback. Walker did a really nice job and probably earned himself a backup opportunity somewhere else in 2023 but this man was the fourth-string quarterback entering training camp. The only reason he stuck around was because of the preseason injuries to Matt Corral (Lisfranc) and Sam Darnold (ankle sprain).

Wilks nearly led the team to win the NFC South which is remarkable considering how big of a disorganized mess everything was when he took over in mid-October. They had no identity and Wilks had to create that on the fly. Not only should Wilks be in contention for the Panthers' head coaching job, but he should be on the radar of other teams as well. Just imagine what he could do when he has a full offseason to mold the roster to his style and hire his own assistants. That's one thing a lot of folks tend to forget. This wasn't his roster or his staff. 

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