Steve Wilks

Steve Wilks
Arizona Cardinals
Position: Head coach
Personal information
Born: (1969-08-08) August 8, 1969
Charlotte, North Carolina
Career information
High school: West Charlotte (NC)
College: Appalachian State
Career history
As player:
As coach:
Head coaching record
Regular season:

NCAA: 5–6 (.455)

NFL: 1–5 (.167)

Steven Bernard Wilks (born August 8, 1969) is an American football coach and former player who is the current head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He has previously spent time as defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers. Wilks also previously served as Defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers.

Playing career

Wilks played defensive back from 1987 to 1991 at Appalachian State.[1]

Wilks played one year in the AFL for the Charlotte Rage as a wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner.[2]

Coaching career

College

Wilks served as Head Football Coach at Savannah State College for one season (1999) and compiled a record of 5-6.[3]

Chicago Bears

Wilks was hired by the Chicago Bears as defensive backs coach on February 16, 2006.[1] The Bears announced on December 30, 2008, that they had fired Wilks.[4]

San Diego Chargers

Wilks was not unemployed for long, however. He was hired as defensive backs coach of the San Diego Chargers in 2009 when former Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera moved to the same position in San Diego.

Carolina Panthers

When Rivera became head coach of the Panthers, he hired Wilks as secondary coach on January 15, 2012. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2015. He was Pro Football Focus's second runner up to their Secondary Coach of the Year award.[5]

In the 2015 season, Wilks and the Panthers reached Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. The Panthers fell to the Denver Broncos by a score of 24–10.[6]

After Sean McDermott left to become head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Wilks was promoted to defensive coordinator.[7]

After the 2017 season, Wilks was an extremely hot commodity for teams in need of new head coaches. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, teams were impressed by Wilks' interview with the Los Angeles Rams in the previous offseason before they eventually hired Sean McVay. Wilks interviewed with the New York Giants who had hired his former boss in Carolina, ex-Panthers general manager David Gettleman.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 22, 2018, Wilks was hired to be the next head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, replacing the recently retired Bruce Arians.[8] In the 2018 season opener against the Washington Redskins, Wilks made his head coaching debut in the 24–6 loss.[9]

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Steve Wilks has served:

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Savannah State (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1999)
1999 Savannah State 5–63–4
Savannah State: 5–63–4
Total:5–6

NFL

TeamYearRegular seasonPostseason
WonLostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
ARI2018 150-TBD in NFC West00--
Total150–00–

References

  1. 1 2 "Chicago Bears".
  2. ↑ "AFL stats".
  3. ↑ "Steve Wilks Records by Year". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  4. ↑ Biggs, Brad (December 30, 2008). "Bears make coaching move". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009.
  5. ↑ https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/01/20/pro-pffs-2015-nfl-positional-coaches-of-the-year-awards/
  6. ↑ "Super Bowl 50 - Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers - February 7th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Sean McDermott hired as Buffalo Bills' new head coach". NFL.com. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  8. ↑ "Steve Wilks Named New Cardinals Head Coach". Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  9. ↑ "Cardinals routed 24-6 by Redskins in Wilks' debut". AP News. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
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