Daily Sports Smile: Carolina Panthers celebrate Charlotte native Steve Wilks on upset win
It's safe to say the Carolina Panthers were jazzed up after their upset win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
The embattled Panthers, who fired head coach Matt Rhule after Week 5, held the Buccaneers to just a field goal in a stunning 21-3 game — and the final game ball went to a local kid from Charlotte.
After interim head coach Steve Wilks handed out his game balls — one of which went to former XFL quarterback P.J. Walker — Carolina handed another game ball to the Charlotte-born Wilks, who picked up his first win coaching his hometown team.
32 THINGS WE LEARNED: What's wrong with Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and NFC?
The Panthers' locker room erupted in celebration as several players embraced Wilks, who ended by leading a chant of "family" with his players.
Wilks coached the Panthers from 2012-17 as a defensive coach and assistant head coach before a one-year stint as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. The 53-year-old found himself out of the NFL in 2021 before re-joining Rhule's staff in Carolina this season.
With the Panthers now rebuilding following Rhule's removal and the trade of franchise cornerstone Christian McCaffrey, Wilks has a chance to re-establish himself in the zeitgeist of NFL head-coaching candidates.
OPINION: Tom Brady farewell tour is turning into a train wreck for Tampa Bay Buccaneers