This is starting to get nasty with coach wilks.

[Adb6368]

It’s a hard situation… the media stirs up crap for page views. Yet wilks was nothing but professional and appreciative in his goodbye note. He looks like everything we’ve been told he is - an amazing leader and a better man. 

I feel for him. But I truly believe tepper never had interest in hiring anything other than an offensive minded coach. 

unfortunately this is a no win situation for everyone involved. And sometimes that’s just life. 

[ColumbusCounty]

To be honest, it's all perception imo. It looks bad because of the optics. 

From the outside looking in, it looks like Wilks wasn't given a fair shake. 

He won more games in a partial season than Rhule did in two full seasons. And that's after losing his best player, a make shift group of coaches, and galvanizing a team that most thought were in tank mode. He basically made an eatable dish outta poo. We were literally two missed field goals away from being in the playoffs.

It looks crazy because WE knew Tepper wanted an offensive coach. Mind you we still interviewed defensive candidates. It's not like we hired John Madden, we hired Frank Reich who just got fired earlier from Indy. It leaves the argument, why not keep Wilks and hire Reich as OC?. Plus you have reports of them not offering him a spot on the staff. I can understand why as it might cause a locker room divide but again, the optics. The media also isnt covering the meeting with the FO and the dozen players that met before the hire. 

It's the media's job to jump on any story so I'm not surprised. I do think the attorney statement is a major reason for the media storm. Wilk's statement was 100% stand up. The optics ...smh 

And I think it's all compounding as Arizona did that man dirty and only to hire Kingsbury who had an awful resume at that time. As for Tepper, I knew Wilks wouldn't be selected when we lost to the Steelers. But I do feel for the guy.  

[panthers55]

8 minutes ago, Growl said:

oh wow a report? a plan? offense?

 

Again that is what was reported.

[WUnderhill]

Just now, MikeD83 said:

Sports media, especially this show, are designed to feed the perpetual outrage machine. Don’t fall for it. It has no real power, and people will forget quickly. 
 

The irony is that if McAdoo (who has more HC experience than Wilks) was given the interim spot, no one would have ever batted an eye over this. Tepper gave an opportunity to Wilks that he never had to. If anything, Wilks’ career in the NFL was pretty much over. This revived his chance at another coordinator or even HC job. 

OMG they wanted an offensive HC and they didn’t even interview McAdoo! Where’s the outrage? Oh wait, he’s white.

[panthers55]

5 minutes ago, ColumbusCounty said:

To be honest, it's all perception imo. It looks bad because of the optics. 

From the outside looking in, it looks like Wilks wasn't given a fair shake. 

He won more games in a partial season than Rhule did in two full seasons. And that's after losing his best player, a make shift group of coaches, and galvanizing a team that most thought were in tank mode. He basically made an eatable dish outta poo. We were literally two missed field goals away from being in the playoffs.

It looks crazy because WE knew Tepper wanted an offensive coach. Mind you we still interviewed defensive candidates. It's not like we hired John Madden, we hired Frank Reich who just got fired earlier from Indy. It leaves the argument, why not keep Wilks and hire Reich as OC?. Plus you have reports of them not offering him a spot on the staff. I can understand why as it might cause a locker room divide but again, the optics. The media also isnt covering the meeting with the FO and the dozen players that met before the hire. 

It's the media's job to jump on any story so I'm not surprised. I do think the attorney statement is a major reason for the media storm. Wilk's statement was 100% stand up. The optics ...smh 

And I think it's all compounding as Arizona did that man dirty and only to hire Kingsbury who had an awful resume at that time. As for Tepper, I knew Wilks wouldn't be selected when we lost to the Steelers. But I do feel for the guy.  

Exactly. You can argue that Tepper can hire who he wants and doesn't have to answer to anyone but the optics are really bad and there is lots of reasons to believe Wilks didn't get a fair shake here. I don't think it was racist but I can see how it could appear that way.

Edited January 28, 2023 by panthers55

[Khyber53]

Oh geez, this is beginning to sound like Fox News rather than Fox Sports.

There's no conspiracy, the league isn't rigged and the Panthers aren't a racist organization.

Wilks was hired on before this season because Tepper and Fitterer knew Rhule's leash was going to be short. They could have hired any number of white candidates to be defensive or offensive assistants with that in mind, but instead chose a guy who had ties to the Panthers, North Carolina and had not just some head coaching experience but the respect of current and former players. 

They hoped he could steer the sinking ship back to port with as little damage to the organization as possible. And then Steve Wilks did an excellent job of putting a team back together from the scraps he had been left with. And, even though he was never meant to be a serious candidate for the position, they actually considered him for it based on his performance and how he handled the locker room.

And what probably decided this more than anything had to do with the NFCSouth as it currently stands. There are some competitive defenses in the division across the board, but every single one of the offenses is in shambles. The first one to get their offense straightened out is going to get an early jump on the division and could set themselves to be the dominant team for a few years to come.

It is as simple as the idea that Wilks just happened to be on the wrong side of the coin. Had he been an offensive guru and QB-whisperer, there would have been no question. The man can lead, the man can get wins, but he hasn't got a track record for building an offense and raising up a QB. Reich does.

Had we already gotten an established QB in place, I think Wilks would have stayed, with some tweaks to the offensive coaching staff. I really think it was that close... one player's impact. But QB is a huge deal and we're looking down the barrel of a lot of QB opportunities in this offseason, from drafting to free agency.

Reich's experience, both as a coach and as a former NFL quarterback, gave him that slight edge that made the difference. I don't believe for one second that the color or either man's skin made one whit of a difference here.

 

[ladypanther]

56 minutes ago, ncguy2184 said:

I just seen Shannon Sharpe and skip Bayless going back and forth

Why would you waste your time doing that?

[Growl]

8 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Again that is what was reported.

Other reports came with names. This one was a vague talking point that reads more like an article from the team website.

[ncfan]

21 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

The problem is that it looks bad when you hire a white coach who got fired in 2022 with a 3-5 :record and he is hired over a black coach who took a dysfunctional team and produced a 6-6 record which is much better and came within a broken wrist away from taking us to the playoffs. You can hide behind the notion that Tepper wanted an offensive guy  but the expectation that Wilkes has to go to the playoffs versus Reich got fired and immediately gets hired again on the surface surely fuels the discussion there were 2 different standards. Especially given a report from one of our writers that Wilkes had a good plan on offense.

I do hate it for Wilks.  But this is a little ridiculous. 

 

Reich was also fired from a dysfunctional organization as well.  Was 3-3-1 before the literal owner told him he had to play Sam Elinger (essential like Tepper coming down and telling Wilks he will start Mayfield or Pj Walker).

Lost 2 games, was fired.  The owner hired his buddy with no coaching experience off the TV set at ESPN.  Then they immediately went back to the original starter where Saturday (who now that team is actually probably going to hire full time) went 1-7.

 

it sucks for Wilks.  It sucks for Wilks, but it was clearly obvious what Tepper wanted and had nothing to do with skin color.  When Wilks was 1 of only 2 defensive guys they interviewed out of 9 (would’ve been 10 if Ben Johnson didn’t back out)

 

id actual be a little angrier if they took some unproven coordinator over him.  
so I feel for Wilks, while I understand the actual reality of the situation and excited for Reich (who will be the first offensive HC we’ve had in this franchise history and goes with the new trend of the NFL as you can see 4 of 4 teams playing this weekend in the conference championships are offensive HC’s)

 

I hope Wilks lands on his feet somewhere and gets another shot.  And hopefully it’s in the AFC

[KatsAzz]

2 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

Why would you waste your time doing that?

Great question. There is no way I am going to waste my time listening to Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless going back and forth when both rarely make valid points.

[top dawg]

23 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

The problem is that it looks bad when you hire a white coach who got fired in 2022 with a 3-5 :record and he is hired over a black coach who took a dysfunctional team and produced a 6-6 record which is much better and came within a broken wrist away from taking us to the playoffs. You can hide behind the notion that Tepper wanted an offensive guy  but the expectation that Wilkes has to go to the playoffs versus Reich got fired and immediately gets hired again on the surface surely fuels the discussion there were 2 different standards. Especially given a report from one of our writers that Wilkes had a good plan on offense.

Perhaps for the analytically challenged, or those that just don't give a damn and will take any and every opportunity to spotlight that there is a legitimate problem with institutional racism in the NFL and society at large. For me personally, I think there is a gargantuan, long-lived problem in America---and at times I feel somewhat helpless to do anything about it, even talk about it---but I don't think that it's necessarily a good thing to label every perceptibly questionable decision as a racist one. There is enough evidence to point to, in my opinion, even within the NFL, on a macro level to show that institutional racism is alive and well, and that people aren't doing (and aren't willing to do) anything of substance to address it, but just because Reich was 3-5 and Wilks was 6-6 this season and we hired Reich isn't one of them in my opinion.

[Castavar]

I'm so tired of this notion that we didn't give Wilks a fair shake.

The man didn't have his team ready to play a Trubisky lead offense and lost AT HOME. That was the first straw. Then, we STILL had a chance to take the division, go up by 14 against TB, and then proceed to choke by letting Mike Evans get behind you 3 fuggin times. Where was all this outrage when Josh McDaniels replaced Bissacia? Hell, Bissacia actually got it done and MADE the playoffs.

[panthers55]

5 minutes ago, ncfan said:

I do hate it for Wilks.  But this is a little ridiculous. 

 

Reich was also fired from a dysfunctional organization as well.  Was 3-3-1 before the literal owner told him he had to play Sam Elinger (essential like Tepper coming down and telling Wilks he will start Mayfield or Pj Walker).

Lost 2 games, was fired.  The owner hired his buddy with no coaching experience off the TV set at ESPN.  Then they immediately went back to the original starter where Saturday (who now that team is actually probably going to hire full time) went 1-7.

 

it sucks for Wilks.  It sucks for Wilks, but it was clearly obvious what Tepper wanted and had nothing to do with skin color.  When Wilks was 1 of only 2 defensive guys they interviewed out of 9 (would’ve been 10 if Ben Johnson didn’t back out)

 

id actual be a little angrier if they took some unproven coordinator over him.  
so I feel for Wilks, while I understand the actual reality of the situation and excited for Reich (who will be the first offensive HC we’ve had in this franchise history and goes with the new trend of the NFL as you can see 4 of 4 teams playing this weekend in the conference championships are offensive HC’s)

 

I hope Wilks lands on his feet somewhere and gets another shot.  And hopefully it’s in the AFC

Again you are doing the same things folks are accusing other people of doing, justifying Reich's hire by making excuses when you didn't do the same for Wilks. You could actually make a strong case that Wilks did a much better job than Reich. Sure you can keep falling back on the excuse of offense versus defense but that is basically it. No way did Reich earn this job on his coaching but his potential which we will all see soon enough.

[mrcompletely11]

1 minute ago, Castavar said:

I'm so tired of this notion that we didn't give Wilks a fair shake.

The man didn't have his team ready to play a Trubisky lead offense and lost AT HOME. That was the first straw. Then, we STILL had a chance to take the division, go up by 14 against TB, and then proceed to choke by letting Mike Evans get behind you 3 fuggin times. Where was all this outrage when Josh McDaniels replaced Bissacia? Hell, Bissacia actually got it done and MADE the playoffs.

being a "leader of men" only gets you so far in the nfl, it doesnt help you in out scheming coaches like Tomlin