Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks certainly has a hold on both players and fans alike. And now that the team is playing some meaningful football down the stretch, he’s hoping the latter of those two groups shows up to support the former.
As he kicked off his Monday afternoon presser, Wilks spent a little time acknowledging yesterday’s huge 30-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks—but quickly transitioned to the next task at hand in the Pittsburgh Steelers. In doing so, he implored the Carolina faithful to “defend the Bank” and keep the Terrible Towels at a minimum this upcoming weekend.
“Definitely wanna talk to our fans, who I feel like are the best fans in NFL football,” he said. “Definitely want those guys to come out and support this team in high fashion, and to keep those Steelers fans out of Bank of America Stadium.”
The Panthers have had trouble keeping any opposing fans out of their stadium over the past few years. We saw it—most notably—with the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots in 2021 and with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this season.
Week 15 will be an especially interesting stand for Carolina, as Steelers fans—who aren’t too far away—travel just as well as any base in the league. Regardless, Wilks is hopeful that Sunday looks like the good ol’ time in Charlotte, N.C.
“I’ve been around here,” he added. “I’ve been in that stadium when you couldn’t even hear yourself talk because it was so loud. You know, the success we’ve had here in the past. So I am asking for our fans to show up en masse this week so we can have that same atmosphere when we play the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
