Arizona Cardinals new head coach Steve Wilks’ resume: By the numbers

A new era in Arizona football started Monday after the Arizona Cardinals hired Steve Wilks as the team’s head coach.

After the Cardinals’ second straight season without making the playoffs, head coach Bruce Arians retired. After searching for a new coach, Arizona decided to give Wilks the keys to the team.

But what made Wilks stand out to the Cardinals among all the other candidates? Here’s a recap of Wilks’ resume over his coaching career.

0

The Panthers allowed zero individual 100-yard rushing games this season, and they were the only team to not allow a single player to get into the triple digits. This stretch is the longest active streak in the NFL, standing at 20 consecutive games.

1

In 2015, the Carolina Panthers led the league in interceptions with Wilks as the defensive backs coach. The Panthers snagged a total of 24 interceptions over the course of the season. Safety Kurt Coleman led the team with seven interceptions, only one less than the NFL leaders Reggie Nelson and Marcus Peters.

2

This will be Wilks’ second head coaching position ever, and the first time in the NFL. Back in 1999, Wilks coached the Savannah State Tigers. As head coach of the Tigers, Wilks had a 5-6 overall record. Before becoming the head coach of Savannah State, Wilks spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Tigers. In 1998, the Tigers led the nation in total defense and Wilks was named the Division II defensive coordinator of the year.

3

This season, the Wilks’ Panthers had the third-most sacks in the NFL. Defensive ends Mario Addison and Julius Peppers led the team with 11 sacks each, leaving them both just outside the top-10 in the NFL. In Arizona, Wilks will have the NFL leader in sacks, Chandler Jones, who accumulated 17 in 2017.

5

Five out of the six seasons that Wilks spent with Carolina, the team’s total defense found its way in the top-10 standings. The only year that didn’t occur was 2016. The next season, Wilks took over as the defensive coordinator and the team leaped from 21st overall to seventh.

7

With Wilks behind the wheel of the Panthers’ defense this season, Carolina gave up the seventh-least yards per game. Sitting right behind the Cardinals, the Panthers gave up 317.1 yards a game. Carolina gave up the third-fewest rushing yards per contest.

41

When Wilks transitioned to the NFL, he took over as the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears who went on to play in the 41st Super Bowl. As the Bears marched their way to the Super Bowl XLI, Chicago led the league in forced turnovers with 44 takeaways. Chicago ended up losing the Super Bowl 29-17 to the Indianapolis Colts.

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