Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks said Tuesday that it was his decision to fire the team’s defensive coordinator and special teams coach in the wake of Matt Rhule’s termination on Monday.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow and special teams coach Ed Foley were let go Monday, hours after the team parted ways with Rhule. Both assistant coaches are longtime Rhule disciples from his head coaching days at Temple and Baylor.
“Two great men, two great coaches,” Wilks said Tuesday. “It was my call, my decision. I just felt like I wanted a different approach moving forward, and that was all.”
Wilks installed Al Holcomb as the new DC, and he will call the defensive plays, Wilks said.
Wilks, 53, went 3-13 in one year as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. Prior to that, he spent six years as an assistant with the Panthers, and he was the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator in 2019.
The Panthers fired Rhule, 47, on Monday after two-plus seasons and an 11-27 record. The Panthers are off to a 1-4 start this season after a 37-15 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
“I stand before you excited about this opportunity but also disappointed in how it came about,” Wilks began his first press briefing as interim coach. “Coach Rhule’s a great coach, a great man. … We didn’t do our job as coaches and players … to keep him around.”
The Panthers play at the Los Angeles Rams (2-3) this Sunday.
–Field Level Media