While the Detroit Lions (Matt Patricia) and the Indianapolis Colts (Josh McDaniels) are just waiting to officially close their vacant positions, the Arizona Cardinals are reportedly committed to Steve Wilks.
This is reported by several media in agreement. The Cardinals had originally scheduled second interviews with Wilks, Patriots linebacker coach Brian Flores and Eagles quarterback coach John DeFilippo. But apparently Wilks has convinced the Cards bosses so much that he will soon be introduced as a new head coach in the desert.
That concludes Arizona’s coach search after three weeks. Wilks was also a candidate in Tennessee and with the Giants, but the Titans then chose Mike Vrabel and in New York hourly the introduction of Viking’s offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is expected.
Wilks has extensive experience as a position coach, with a focus on defensive backs. In Carolina, he has been the deputy head coach since 2015 and also held the position of defensive coordinator this season. Under Wilks, the Panthers-Defense became one of the most aggressive Blitzing-Defenses, an approach that Cardinals fans of the past few years are familiar with.
In Arizona, Wilks takes over one of the top defenses of the second half of the season, and the Cardinals have plenty of quality with players such as Patrick Peterson, Budda Baker, Chandler Jones, Markus Golden, Tyrann Mathieu and Deone Bucannon. The exciting question now will be what the offensive coaching staff looks like – the cards go off-season without quarterback in the roster.