The team hasn't looked good, they have just had a below average schedule.
And who is Wilks going to bring in as OC? What reason is there to think Wilks of all people will be the one to help find and develop our next QB? Fox got lucky with Delhomme, but that was a different era and what happened when Delhomme declined? Rivera got lucky with the No. 1 overall pick and Cam Newton, but hell, who actually thinks Newton's potential was maximized here? And what happened when we needed a back-up plan to Cam? Who knows who the Panthers will draft but we need to guarantee ourselves a head coach who we believe can develop a franchise QB for us. Wilks is very unlikely to be that man.
Lastly, I'm not against hiring defensive-minded guys as HC, but it is time for people to face the facts: there is no evidence Steve Wilks can actually coach a consistently high-level defense. Blame him or Holcomb, it doesn't matter, they go hand-in-hand. Like I said, he's a poor-mans Rivera. Rivera has coached or been the HC for many top 10 defenses. Wilks in 4 years as DC/HC has only finished inside the top 20 in points allowed once (and never in the top 10) and only finished inside the top 20 in yards allowed once, and both happened the same year by the way. Point is his defenses usually are mediocre to bad. Outside of "leadership" (and look, I'm not saying Wilks ain't a great leader, but being a great leader isn't some overly unique trait to find in a league with hundreds of coaches), what reason is there to keep Wilks? He doesn't coach great defenses. What evidence is there that he will hire a good OC? His OC in Arizona was Byron Leftwich and everyone is seeing how much he sucks as a play-caller without the influence of Arians.
Honestly, if the Panthers retain Wilks, it would be one of the most disappointing moves by the team that I can remember. Just a clearly terrible decision (no offense to anyone in support of him, just stating my opinion).
