It has been rumored for some time now, but the Cardinals are indeed expected to fire head coach Steve Wilks at the end of the season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Wilks was one of the hottest names on the head coaching circuit last year, but his first — and presumably last — season as Arizona’s HC has been a disaster, and the club is planning to move on.
The Cardinals have limped to a 3-11 record this season, and as is the case with many struggling teams, they have had to deal with a fair amount of turmoil this year (from offensive coordinator Mike McCoy‘s firing to Patrick Peterson‘s trade request). Arizona’s defense has graded out as an average unit per Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric — and to give credit to Wilks, defense is his specialty — but the club’s offense has been abysmal, and the team’s performance overall has not inspired much hope that things will get better anytime soon.
For what it’s worth, though, Wilks does appear to have the support of his team. Cardinals legend and surefire Hall-of-Famer Larry Fitzgerald may not even be with Arizona next season, but he told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com that he and all of his teammates would want Wilks to return. Fitzgerald said, “[w]e all would want him back. I love Wilks. Great dude. We all play hard for him. That’s the team — not me alone — speaking on it.”
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com agrees with Fitzgerald, tweeting that Arizona coaches and players think Wilks should get a chance to come back in 2019.
And in the piece linked above, Rapoport suggests that owner Michael Bidwill has not made a firm decision one way or another. If he does bring Wilks back, however, Wilks would be expected to make significant staff changes, which he would be willing to do. Since Wilks was the last head coach to be hired this year, there were fewer viable assistants to choose from.
Of course, GM Steve Keim‘s job also remains in jeopardy.
What was Arizona expecting? Rookie quarterback, suspect offense of line, horrible rushing defense and with the exception of Fitzgerald and Kirk no offense of weapons. No matter who comes in to take over this team expect more of the same in 2019.
Ever hear of a guy named David Johnson?
I think they gotta give the dude at least one more year of a shot. I absolutely loved him in Carolina, and I feel like he can’t help the fact the GM isn’t giving him good talent to work with.
Pretty harsh for a depleted roster.
If he is not your guy long term then waste no time. Cards are doing so
The Gm gives him a roster that is lacking, gets an “extreme DUI” and he gets to whack Wilks?
Makes sense
That’s because the owner refuses to fire the GM who sucks at drafting and hiring unqualified head coaches.
Wilks has lost the fanbase in AZ. Came in as a defensive minded HC, when his team lets up 40 points twice once to the Rams, and the other to Denver. Ram game the offense never got beyond mid-field only once and that was in the last minute of the game, and the Denver game was a Thursday home game rout, and then lost at home to the Raiders, and Detroit, and the last week lost 37-14 to the Falcons. His win against Green Bay, and close lost to KC was looked on as a fluke out here. HC job to big for him, maybe next one will be the one. Keim gets a pass for one year, have no clue who the Cards would hire to replace Wilks.
Steve “ I am clueless “ Wilks can’t be shown the door fast enough. Same with “ Never saw a drink without my name on it”. Keim. Hey let’s draft a bunch of 4/3 players then bring in a 3/4 coach who doesn’t have a clue. Michael Bidwell isn’t his father and will spend he just needs someone smart enough to spend it. Welcome to Las Vegas Keim where you can drink at every intersection.
The defense was built for the opposite of what Wilks was attempting to implement. If you have players that play Scheme-A but you want to institute Scheme-B, you should progress that way via draft and FA, and not use the current players to play Scheme-B. I know I’ll here about how “you don’t draft players based on scheme” yada, yada, yada. But you do. I’d give Wilks one more chance if Keim is able to fix this with all the money and high draft pick they’re going to have.
Yep time to move on. Signing Bradford to that much money was ridiculous. Coulda stuck with Glennon and kept resigned the honey badger and maybe kept Campbell on top of it. Stupid stupid signing