Former Carolina Panthers safety Tre Boston says Steve Wilks deserves to be permanent coach

Another day, another endorsement for Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks.

This time, the praise came from former Panthers safety Tre Boston. The ex-Panthers defender and current ACC football analyst, who was on hand at Bank of America Stadium Friday ahead of the college clash between Clemson and North Carolina, called Wilks an "amazing leader" who deserves a full-time head-coaching job.

"To this day, I still talk to him, I've communicated with him this season," Boston said. "I am truly happy to see him get this because you knew that if things kinda went they way they did, you were hoping that he'd get this position. And to see the guys playing the way they are, man. You can always tell a team by the fight they have for their coach. And there's a difference between laying down.

"And I've played for teams that we've been on interim coaches and been on different coaches where guys . . . they don't wanna fight for you. You're not really one of us. And that's what you have to be. You have to be a team and that's what Steve Wilks brings. He's a guy who knows how to rally the troops and you've seen why this team has been so special while he's been at the helm."

Wilks coached Boston in Carolina from 2014 to 2016, when he served as the defensive backs coach under Ron Rivera. He's a good person to poll when it comes to Wilks and Panthers football.

And we'll see, with five games left after this week's bye, how much fight Wilks' Panthers have in a tight (and improbable) NFC South race.