Fantastic Article on Thieves Ave (Wilks, Norman)

[Dex]

Quote

When Harper signed with the Panthers in 2014, Wilks invited him out to lunch so he could tell Harper that the veteran needed to be his second voice on the field.

At the same time, he found a way to make sure that Harper, a player with years of polish and ostensibly on the downside of his career, stayed green.

"I can just be myself," Harper says. "And coach does a great job understanding that I've been through a lot of games, so you know when he's coaching me, he might be coaching [rookie safety] Dean [Marlowe] by trying to get to me in different ways, and coaching me to get to Dean Marlowe and just different things like that, man."

Wilks' coaching-by-proxy ensured Norman's development. Wilks told Harper about Norman when Harper arrived in Charlotte. Harper paid Norman a visit.

"And I went to his house, we had some wings, and I talked to him about being complete, continuing to push forward, because at one point I was in the same place he was in my career, where I'm kind of lost -- you know, 'What am I doing? The coaches don't trust me,'" Harper says.

Norman's reclamation is perhaps the best testament to Wilks' teaching and the power of brotherhood. Norman admits he "shut down" at one point because of the early struggles in his career. He had to rebuild his self-confidence, and he might never have been able to if, first, he hadn't been able to be himself. Harper calls Norman an "enigma" and a difficult person to figure out. Norman is impulsive, a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie -- "anything, just thrill, need for speed." He doesn't seem to consider his words too carefully.

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/2/6/10926624/carolina-panthers-josh-norman-roman-harper-defensive-backs-thieves

[Mr. Scot]

There are a lot of good words to be said about Steve Wilks.

[Dex]

4 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

There are a lot of good words to be said about Steve Wilks.

Very underrated member of the coaching staff.

[GRWatcher]

Another short good article (how could they not be?) about Coach Wilks.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/31155306/coaching-in-super-bowl-fulfills-dream-for-panthers-assistant-head-coach-steve-wilks

Quote

When Steve Wilks was in his first coaching job as an assistant at Johnson C. Smith in 1995, he would often look from the Golden Bulls’ football offices at the Charlotte skyline a few miles away.

“I’m going to work over there someday,” Wilks recalls telling his friend and co-worker Steve Aycock.

“Where, at Nations Bank (now Bank of America)?” Aycock said.

“No,” Wilks said, “with the Panthers.”