The changes in Carolina continue.
After only a year at the helm of the Carolina Panthers defense, Steve Wilks is being pegged as the Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals, according to multiple sources. Wilks’ strong history and experience throughout various stops in the NFL, including San Diego and Chicago alongside Ron Rivera, led the Cardinals to choose him over other candidates after former Head Coach Bruce Arians retired after the team finished 8-8 and third in the NFC West.
Wilks brings an aggressive style to the Cardinals, as the Panthers were one of the most blitz-happy groups in the NFL in 2017; they finished third in the NFL in sack totals, as well as seventh in net yards allowed per game during Wilks’ one season leading the defense.
“He believes that whoever is dialed up and is running that pressure, that they’re going to get home,” said defensive end Wes Horton during the season. “He’s not scared, and he just dials it up.”
“I just think, most importantly and I tell the guys all the time, it’s not the call, it’s the men,” said Wilks during a press conference after the Panthers beat the Minnesota Vikings and blitzed an inordinate number of times. “I feel very confident in the players we have out there that they’re going to execute.”
Both Wilks and Rivera would not address coaching rumors as the season wore on, but Rivera did acknowledge in his final press conference of the season that he anticipated looking for a new defensive coordinator once the coaching carousel had finished it’s turns. Wilks will take on the Cardinals and their sixth-ranked defense, hoping to lead them back to the conference championship, where they lost to the Panthers in 2015.
With Wilks leaving, the Panthers will enter 2018 with a new offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, new quarterbacks coach in Scott Turner, new special teams coordinator in Chase Blackburn, a new owner, perhaps a new general manager and, if all goes according to plan, a new defensive coordinator in Eric Washington.
Washington, who has spent the previous seven seasons keeping watch over one of the most dominant defensive lines in the NFL, will be taking on the role of defensive coordinator in only his third professional position in the NFL after spending three seasons in Chicago before coming to Carolina with Ron Rivera. Sources close to the team have confirmed that Washington inked a deal in the recent weeks which assured him the coordinator spot if Wilks was tapped by another team.
The former Grambling State tight end is famed in the Panthers’ locker room for his two catchphrases: “G2X”, which stands for “Get To The Spot” and has spawned an entire clothing line of various swag that is seen throughout Bank Of America Stadium on any given day.
Photo: @Panthers Twitter
The other tag line you will hear for as long as Washington remains the defensive coordinator? “We Rush.” It became a mantra for the defensive linemen throughout this season, especially as Washington pushed the Panthers defensive line to have the most sacks by a defensive line since 2012 with 219. The second-highest total was 198.
#WeRush! #MerryChristmas pic.twitter.com/6fqoaHQ59d
— Eric Washington (@G2XRush) December 24, 2017
Washington is expected to follow in the footsteps of the Panthers’ previous defensive coordinators, Sean McDermott and Wilks, who both utilized an aggressive system to consistently place pressure on the opposing quarterback. Washington’s defensive line helped Carolina to only allow 96.2 rushing yards per game in 2017, good for third in the league; since Washington joined the team, the Panthers have allowed the third-fewest yards on the ground over that six-year span, with a Panthers defensive lineman being named NFC Defensive Player of the Week at least once in three of the past four years.
Washington inherits a defense that was, by average age, the oldest group in the NFL in 2017. This will be Wilks’ first head coaching position and Washington’s first job at the coordinator level; there may be more changes to the coaching staff coming as offensive line coach Ray Brown and linebackers coach Al Holcomb are expected to join Wilks in Arizona.
