I'm not a Wilks fan. My concern on firing him is that there seems to be a shortage of good candidates especially with offense experience. There could also be maybe 8 HC openings so the Cards would be in competition for any real good candidates. Some on this Board will say anyone will be better than Wilks. But we don't need another crappy coach.
I strongly disagree, and I mean, you wrote yourself that you are grasping for straws. Only considering offensive-minded candidates, I can come up with several interesting options. It’s certainly possible with defensive-minded- and special teams-minded candidates as well, but that wasn’t what you asked for, so I won’t list anyone of them.
Pete Carmichael from the Saints is an interesting name, especially considering he has not gotten any request to interview for head coaching position since 2013. Why? Coming from that high-octane offense, and having learned from Sean Payton, you would think he would have plenty of interviews each year.
John DeFilippo was a very hot name with the Cardinals before hiring Wilks. Say what you want about his stint with the Vikings, but the fact remains that he called a lot of misdirection- and play action-pass, which is very trendy in todays NFL, and he has shown both in Philadelphia and Minnesota that he can work with quarterbacks. Also, sometimes the Vikings’ offense showed a very high ceiling (other times they just showed a very low floor as well). In other words, he falls into the category of young, innovative coaches like Kyle Shanahan, Matt Nagy and Sean McVay.
Matt LaFleur has learned under Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay which in itself should make him an interesting candidate. I don’t know if he can control a team and connect with a front office (things that are much, much more important than if they can call plays), but he has supposedly been well-liked in both Tennessee and with the Rams.
Eric Bieniemy is from the Andy Reid coaching tree which is easily enough to make any assistant coach highly interesting. Further, the Chiefs’ offense has been more explosive this year than under both Doug Peterson and Matt Nagy, who are now successful head coaches, and while that might be because of the players, it could also be because of Bieniemy. No-one can tell for sure, though it’s probably a little of both.
David Shaw’s name always come up, but I think he is just as exiting a head coaching candidate as he has been for years.
Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma might not have a lot of experience as a head coach, but he has been fantastic in the two years he has. His offense has been highly explosive, and even innovative. Riley is one of the most flexible play designers in the college game. Much smarter people than me has said how you can literally see elements of Riley’s offense incorporated into both the Rams’ and the Chiefs’ offense this season.
Matt Campbell has been very successful as a head coach at both Toledo and Iowa State (and I mean extremely successful). He hasn’t called plays that much, but he is known as a great leader and head coach. If hired, he might have to bring in an offensive coordinator to call plays.
Extremely longshots include quarterback coaches Mike Kafka and Zac Taylor from respectively the Chiefs and the Rams.
By the way, before anyone mentions Josh McDaniels, just think about for a while how he is a sad human being. Do you really want that in your head coach?
So, I guess my point is that, even though I don’t know a lot about most of those guys, there are, in my opinion, plenty of exciting options if they do decide they would rather have an offensive-minded head coach than Steve Wilks.
