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Despite his impressive performance as the Panthers’ interim head coach, Steve Wilkes was not named Carolina’s permanent coach.alternative job went to frank reichwas sacked in nine games for the Colts in the 2022 season.
After the Panthers announced their hiring of Reich, attorney Douglas Wigder, who represents Wilkes in Brian Flores’ pending race discrimination lawsuit, released a statement.
“We are very pleased that he was relegated to the head coaching position by David Tepper after Wilkes did an excellent job as interim coach, including getting the team back into playoff contention and gaining the support of the players and fans. is shocked and upset.
“The NFL has legitimate racial issues and I can assure you that we’ll have more to say in the coming days.
Wilkes received rave reviews from the Panthers players, replacing Matt Ruhl after the team started 1-4. With his 6-6 record under Wilkes, the Panthers came close to winning the NFC South Division.
The fact that the Panthers were competitive all the way to the end is a testament to Wilkes, the longtime defensive assistant who served as the Cardinals’ head coach for the 2018 season. Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold said Wilkes’ transparency is one of his greatest strengths as an interim coach.
“I think he’s going to be honest with us and tell us exactly how we’re going to play the game and what we want to do,” Darnold said after the Week 14 victory against Seattle. “He said early on, even when we were losing some games, ‘Hey, trust the process, trust the game plan.’ You have to go into the game with an open mind and even if you lose a point or two early on, you have to trust it and know that your game plan will work.
Carolina players openly lobbied for Wilkes in the second half of the 2022 season. Unfortunately for them and Wilkes, their lobbying ultimately fell on deaf ears.
“We’re riding behind Wilkes,” linebacker Shaq Thompson said following Carolina’s late-season win in Seattle. “He came here. He’s a true Alpha. Yes, a true leader and everyone is following him.
“He did a great job. Look what we’ve been through.”
The shortage of minority head coaches was a hot topic a year ago this time around, especially after the Dolphins fired Flores and Flores sued the NFL. We only had black coaches. His one of those coaches, Lovie Smith, became the third black coach to be fired from the Texans in a day after the regular season ended.
Last February, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a memo to NFL teams addressing the lack of minority recruitment.
“We have made great efforts to promote diversity and have adopted many policies and programs that have resulted in positive change in many areas, but the results have been unacceptable, especially when it comes to our head coaches. I must admit that it is Goodell wrote“We will review and consider all policies, guidelines and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, including those related to gender.”
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