Steve Wilks' time leading the Arizona Cardinals has come to an end, the club has now officially announced.
Brought in to replace the retiring Bruce Arians, Wilks lasted just one season leading the team, and heading into today the Cardinals were sitting at 3-12, including losses in seven of their last eight games. Their only win during that span was to the Packers, who fired head coach Mike McCarthy shortly after the game.
Wilks was hired to lead the franchise after serving as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the Panthers for the 2017 season, and the two years prior to that, he coached the Panther defensive backs on Ron Rivera's staff.
Prior to entering the league in 2006 with the Chicago Bears coaching the defensive backs, Wilks spent a number of years at the college level with stops as the defensive backs coach or defensive coordinator at Johnson C. Smith (D-II - NC), Savannah State (FCS - GA), Illinois State (FCS), Appalachian State, East Tennessee State, Bowling Green, Notre Dame, and Washington. He served as the head coach at Savannah State (FCS - GA) for one season in 1999, and led the team to a 5-6 record.
The Cardinals spent a first-round pick on UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen in last year's draft, and have an interesting mix of aging veterans, and some young talent on the roster that will attract its fair share of quality candidates. Interestingly enough, one report from Jason La Canfora states that Cardinals ownership has reached out to Mike McCarthy and is willing to give him say over personnel to bring him to Arizona, although LaCanfora adds that McCarthy "does not intend to pursue the opening."
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