The Arizona Cardinals have found a replacement for the recently retired Bruce Arians. On Monday, through a release, the National Football League franchise announced Steve Wilks as the team's new head coach.
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For the uninitiated, Wilks was last with the Carolina Panthers as a defensive coordinator. Carolina actually hired Wilks as a defensive backs coach back in 2012. He was then promoted to the defensive coordinator position in 2017.
Wilkes had a second interview with Arizona on Friday. Apparently, that interview went well enough that the franchise deemed speaking to any other potential candidates as not needed.
The new head coach's history manning the helm from the sidelines actually dates back to 1995. Having started as a defensive back coach for Johnson C. Smith (a college), Wilks would make several stops at the collegiate level, including stints with Notre Dame and Washington, until 2005.
As far as his NFL resume goes, he's been a defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears and (then) San Diego Chargers before joining the Carolina Panthers.
With many other teams are still waiting to make official announcements, Arizona can now trot about its offseason knowing the franchise has the coach it wanted.
As for how his new players reacted? Dynamic corner Patrick Peterson is apparently a fan.
https://twitter.com/P2/status/955487861117108224
