Steve Wilks even has former Carolina Panthers players willing to run through a wall for him.
After the Week 18 win over the New Orleans Saints, franchise great Thomas Davis dropped the latest endorsement for Wilks—who will be vying for the team’s head-coaching position. The former linebacker swooped upon the comment section in the Panthers’ Instagram post of Wilks talking to his players following the victory.
He wrote the following:
Man if we don’t hire Coach Wilks it’s going to be another setback for us! No one is better suited for this job! The way these players rallied around him and this staff shows he has that “IT FACTOR”! We just saw the Raiders make the same mistake last year thinking the grass was greener than what they had and look where they are!!! Why go get someone that doesn’t have any skin in the game? This man is from Charlotte and loves this team and this community! He’s a leader of men. His words resonate with everyone that’s listening and the guys love playing for him. We all saw the shift in the way these guys played when he took over. Wilks absolutely got the max out of this roster! If it wasn’t for D Jack and Horn getting injured we would’ve easily finished stronger and won the division! I want to see what this team looks like when he gets to bring in his own players and staff! #WilksForTheWin #IBelieve #KeepPounding
Davis spent six seasons working alongside Wilks in Carolina—when the Charlotte native served as an assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. The 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year joins a number of fellow Panthers (both past and present) in supporting Wilks—a bunch that includes Tre Boston, Derrick Brown, Bradley Bozeman and Shaq Thompson, among others.