CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Steve Wilks could have taken the easy way out Tuesday when asked why he accepted the job as interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers considering the history of Black interim coaches getting the job permanently is bleak.
He could have agreed with owner David Tepper, who, from the same podium almost 24 hours earlier, issued a reminder the organization never had two consecutive winning seasons and declared “it’s never had a real culture of winning.’’
He didn’t.
Instead, with Tepper sitting in the audience, Wilks noted the Panthers had a true winning culture from 2013 to 2015 when they won three consecutive NFC South titles while he was the defensive secondary coach under Ron Rivera.