Former Cardinals coach Steve Wilks hired as Browns DC
Jan 13, 2019, 6:20 PM | Updated: Jan 14, 2019, 8:32 am
(AP Photo/John Amis, File)
(AP Photo/John Amis, File)
It didn’t take long for former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks to get back into the coaching ranks.
Wilks was named as the next defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns on Monday.
The addition comes two weeks after Wilks was fired as the Cardinals’ head coach after one season.
Wilks teams up with former Cardinals assistant Freddie Kitchens, who was recently hired as the Browns’ head coach.
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Wilks’ brief time in Arizona was tumultuous.
Arizona was 3-13 and suffered nine double-digit losses in his lone season.
The Cardinals lost their first four games of the season and started 1-6 before firing offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. They managed just 13 points per game under McCoy and suffered four double-digit losses before replacing the coordinator with quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich on Oct. 19.
Less than a week later, franchise cornerstone Patrick Peterson reportedly asked to be traded.
Wilks said the Cardinals wouldn’t trade Peterson, and the cornerback reaffirmed his commitment to the team two days after word of his dissatisfaction leaked. But it proved to be another distraction for an organization looking for stability following the retirement of Arians and former starting quarterback Carson Palmer in the offseason heading into 2018.
There wasn’t much improvement following McCoy’s departure and after the Peterson saga.
The Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers for the second time before their bye week, then resumed their freefall.
They lost to the Kansas City Chiefs before suffering a pair of losses that did nothing to help Wilks’ chances.
First, the Cardinals lost at home to an under-manned, one-win Oakland Raiders squad on a last-second field goal. A week later, they let Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers set an NFL record with 25 straight completions to begin what ended as a 45-10 defeat.
An impressive road win over the Green Bay Packers was negated a week later when the Cardinals flopped in a 17-3 home loss to the last-place Detroit Lions.
Arizona followed up the Lions loss with another poor performance against a last-place team, falling 40-14 to the Atlanta Falcons on the road.
Wilks’ final home game as the Cardinals’ head coach was a 31-9 loss to the Rams.
He finished his Cardinals’ career with a 27-24 road loss to the Seahawks.
