From the jump, Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks has been about “winning the day.” And now, with his admirable job in this 2022 campaign all wrapped up, he’s only going to take things day by day.
A gutsy 10-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints ended the season on a good note in Week 18. It also moved the Panthers to a relatively remarkable 6-6 under Wilks, who inherited an unmitigated mess after a 1-4 start to the year.
After the game, however, he wanted to keep it all about his team—even when the topic of potentially being named the head coach for 2023 inevitable popped up.
“That’s not my call,” Wilks said. “It’s not about me. Again, it’s about those men in that locker room. It’s about this organization—the coaching staff, support staff. Everybody pulled together this year to endure all the things we had to go through. So it’s not it’s just me. So I just commend everybody in this organization—the way we just rallied and pulled together.”
While the Panthers fell just short of rallying all the way to an NFC South crown last week, the fact they fought back this much is a testament to Wilks’ impact. Now, the 53-year-old will try to keep rallying his way to getting that “interim” label knocked off within the next few weeks.
But, again, Wilks is still about just winning the day.
“Too be quite honest, I’ma stay in the moment and just reflect on where we are right,” Wilks said when asked of the upcoming process. “I don’t really wanna discuss anything about job opportunities moving forward. Again, I’ma be where my feet are right now.”
