I really wish Steve Wilks had told David Tepper thanks but no thanks.
But I understand why he essentially had no choice other than saying yes.
Not long after the Carolina Panthers announced they had fired head coach Matt Rhule partway through the third year of his failed but highly lucrative tenure (he earned roughly $5.6 million for each of his 11 wins in 38 tries), the team announced that Wilks, the secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator, would take over as interim head coach.
Wilks is now the 15th Black man to be an interim head coach in the NFL since 1990, or about 30 percent of the interim stints in the league over that time.