Sources: Cardinals plan to part ways with Wilks
The Arizona Cardinals are planning to part ways with head coach Steve Wilks, according to sources, the next likely move in what is shaping up to be the most chaotic head-coaching cycle since 2013, when there were eight changes.
It now seems like a foregone conclusion that the NFL will see at least eight changes this season, and it could mark the most turnover since 11 teams made head-coaching changes in 2009, league sources told ESPN.
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Perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson wants to finish his career in Arizona and follow in the footsteps of Larry Fitzgerald.
Hue Jackson was fired by the Browns in October, and Mike McCarthy was fired by the Packers earlier this month — and more head-coaching changes are expected in the coming weeks.
One source said he could not envision a scenario in which the Cardinals would bring back Wilks, who was just hired in January — a sign of how quickly owners get unhappy and impatient.
Wilks’ departure would mark another firing for a minority head coach, further highlighting a growing issue for the league. With Wilks, Denver’s Vance Joseph and the Jets’ Todd Bowles all likely to be let go after this season, according to sources, and with Cleveland already firing Jackson, it will leave Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, the Chargers’ Anthony Lynn, Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis and the Panthers’ Ron Rivera as the league’s only minority head coaches.
Tomlin, Lynn and Lewis would be left as the league’s only African-American head coaches at a time when the league has stepped up its Rooney Rule qualifications and tried to advance the hiring of minorities.
The Cardinals are 3-11 entering Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. If they lose their final two games, their 3-13 record will match their worst since the franchise moved from St. Louis in 1988.
“Guys are still competing,” Wilks said earlier this week, after referring to last Sunday’s 40-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons as “not acceptable.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.