Falcons' Cordarrelle Patterson tweets speculations on team's DC vacancy

The latest post from the four-time Pro Bowler regarding Steve Wilks comes in the wake of the Carolina Panthers hiring Frank Reich as their next head coach. Wilks took over as the Panthers' interim head coach after Matt Rhule was fired last October and helped the team finish the year 7-10 and just outside the playoff picture.

Wilks was a finalist for Carolina's lead gig and is expected to receive heavy interest from other teams with head coaching or coordinator openings. Longtime college and NFL coach Dean Pees announced his third retirement in five years earlier this month, after serving as the Falcons' defensive coordinator since the 2021 campaign.

At 73 years old, he was the oldest defensive coordinator in the league during the 2022 season.

Wilks started his coaching career as the defensive coordinator with Division II Johnson C. Smith University in 1995, held the role at Division II Savannah State University (before being promoted to head coach), and then was a defensive coach with five different Division I programs from 2000 to 2004. The 53-year-old joined the NFL with the Washington then-Redskins as the secondary coach in 2005, before serving as the defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears (2006-2008), then-San Diego Chargers (2009-2011), and Panthers (2012-2014).

Wilks was the Panthers' associate head coach from 2015 to 2017, before lasting just one season in his first NFL head coaching position with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He was the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator in 2019 and had the same job with the University of Missouri in 2021, before re-joining the Panthers in 2022.