Steve Wilkes never had a chance with the Carolina Panthers
But the story is not about Reich or his coaching credentials. It’s about Steve Wilkes and him coaching credentials. Wilkes is another example of a black coach in the NFL who is given very little chance to prove himself – first the Arizona Cardinals, now the Panthers. And race is very much a part of that story, whether or not the NFL and its predominantly white fans admit it.
Wilkes coached the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 after Bruce Arians and quarterback Carson Palmer retired. Cardinals took Josh Rosen with the 10th pick in that year’s draft and it turned out to be a washout; he has now worked with seven NFL teams in five seasons.
Unsurprisingly, the Cardinals went 3-13 and Wilkes was fired. He was replaced by Kliff Kingsburywho has just been fired after accumulating a a loss record at Texas Tech (35-40), but who was claimed to be a quarterback guru. After hearing about Rosen, the Cardinals used pick #1 in the 2019 draft for Kyler Murray and dealt him to Kingsbury.
We’ll never know how Wilkes would have done given the chance to coach Murray. What are we to do it is known that Kingsbury was 28-37-1 in four years, with one winning season and one playoff appearance. He was fired after the Cardinals went 4-13 last fall. Kingsbury is only 43. Bet: He’ll get another coaching gig. After all, he has the look. He’s white and handsome — they call him “Coach Handsome” — and some NFL owner or college president will decide he looks like a head coach should be.
Last season, Wilkes finally got another “chance” to be an NFL head coach. When Matt Rule was fired with a 1-4 record and the Panthers in disarray, Wilkes was named interim head coach. At the time, Panthers owner David Tepper said Wilkes would receive serious consideration for the position if he did an “unbelievable job.”
Wilkes did an incredible job. The team was going nowhere with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. Wilkes sat him down (and eventually, at Mayfield’s request, let him go) and Sam Darnold started. He deviated from the team trade of Christian McCaffreyhis best player, and brought together a divided locker room.
The Panthers went 6-6 the rest of the way and even played in the playoffs with two weeks left in the season, albeit in the awful NFC South.
Even though Wilkes did an incredible job—excellent, amazing, fantastic, you name it—he didn’t stand a chance. zeroto get a job. Although Wilkes technically interviewed for the position twice, it was clear that Tepper was on the way out. He’s interviewed just about everyone who’s ever coached, from the minute the season ends; Wilkes was interviewed twice, which supposedly made him a “finalist.”
Coming second in the coaching search doesn’t matter. It also became the NFL’s way of demanding enforcement Rooney’s rule – “Hey, look, they thought seriously [insert Black coach’s name here]but he came second.”
Ask Eric Bienimi about it. Or Byron Leftwich.
When black coaches are hired, they are often on a shorter leash than white coaches. How This is reported by The Post last year black coaches were twice as likely to be fired after leading their team into the regular season since 1990 record of .500 or better. Lovie Smith, who was just fired in Houston after one season, was fired after going 81-63 and leading the Bears to the Super Bowl with the immortal Rex Grossman at quarterback. The Bears were 10-6 in 2012, Smith’s final year. In the 10 years since then, they have one winning season.
Jim Caldwell went to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, was fired two years after an injured Peyton Manning missed the entire season and the Colts went 2-14, then was the offensive coordinator of the “Ravens”. when they won the Super Bowl. He was hired as the Lions’ head coach in 2014 and went 36-28 in four seasons, including two playoff appearances. It was the best mark by any Lions head coach since Buddy Parker in the 1950s.
However, Caldwell was fired after his second straight 9-7 record in 2017. Tony Dungy — the first black coach to win a Super Bowl, for whom Caldwell worked in Indianapolis — watched the press conference at which team owner Martha Firestone Ford announced that Caldwell had not returned.
“She said things got better under Jim,” Dungy said. “The team was better on the field, they were better off the field. The culture was better. And then she said they were making changes.”
They were replaced by Matt Patricia, who went 13-29-1 over two-plus seasons. Dan Campbell was next and he went 9-8 in his second season, making TV people swoon at the mention of his name. Campbell is a tough guy, full of enthusiasm and apparently a good coach. But in this “breakthrough” season, “Lions” showed a better result one of four Caldwell Lions teams.
I guess Wilkes’ chances of getting the job were damaged by joining it Brian Flores lawsuit against the NFL and its teams. Flores was fired after three seasons in Miami. The Dolphins improved from 5-11 in the first season to 10-6 and 9-8 in the next two. Not good enough.
Dolphins hired Mike McDanielWorld Health Organization identifies as biracial, Flores’ successor. The NFL, of course, likes to trumpet its “minority” coaches, including McDaniel; Ron Rivera, Latino; and Robert Saleh, a Lebanese-American.
But here’s the reality: In a league that nearly 60 percent of the players are blacknow there is two Black coaches: Mike Tomlin, who has been in the league for 16 years, won a Super Bowl and never lost; and Todd Bowles, who just finished his first season in Tampa Bay and made the playoffs, finished with an 8-9 record.
There are still four openings: Arizona, Indianapolis, Houston and Denver. All will promote black candidates. Heck, Wilkes might be interviewed — like Flores was interviewed by the New York Giants last year. after apparently they have already decided hire Brian Daboll.
For the record, Daboll was a big hit. Reich could also prove to be an excellent recruit. But at the moment he was not the right candidate. The problem is NFL owners don’t care. They are above the law — and above any racial morality.
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