Steve Wilks met with the media for the first time since taking the Browns defensive coordinator job last month and the subject of his firing after one year as the Cardinals head coach came up early in the press conference.
Wilks said he would have liked more time, but that the NFL is “a production-based league and we didn’t win enough games.” His chances of winning more games would have been helped by better quarterback play, which makes it unsurprising to hear that the presence of Baker Mayfield helped make the Cleveland job an attractive one to Wilks.
“You can’t win in this league without a quarterback,” Wilks said. “And we have a quarterback. He’s an alpha male and affects whole team.”
Wilks won’t be coaching Mayfield, of course, but coaching for a winning team won’t hurt his chances of getting another look as a head coach.
As for the players he will be coaching, Wilks said he likes the young personnel in Cleveland and is “looking forward to adding more pieces to that.” He also said he’d like to find ways to get even more out of defensive end Myles Garrett and mentioned possibly bringing Julius Peppers, who Wilks coached in Carolina, in to work with Garrett and other pass rushers this offseason.