The Giants in 2017 were bad on the field and, if possible, worse off it, in terms of locker-room camaraderie, attention to detail and taking the message of the head coach and turning it into production.
What about all the fun and games, the unprofessionalism, the joking around after a bad day on the field? Kiss it all goodbye if the Giants hire Steve Wilks as their new head coach. So says Jon Beason, the former Giants linebacker, who was with the Panthers when Wilks arrived in Charlotte as the defensive backs coach.
“He is a hard-core, intense, great coach,’’ Beason told The Post. “He plays the, ‘Hey man, c’mon guys’ role, but if he sees guys goof off, he will — without hesitation — coach Wilks will stand up in the room, address guys in an authoritative manner and everybody will stop what they’re doing. He will have the floor and address it. That’s the whole room. That’s who he is.
“A lot of times you come in and have young kids at 21, 22, and they don’t know what to expect with the glitz and glamour of being a professional athlete and what they think they know but they don’t. If you don’t win, if you are not productive, you will be gone. Enough with all the BS, the laughing, the joking, we got to get this down. ‘We didn’t have a great day of practice today. That was horses–t, we’re gonna get our ass kicked on Sunday if we play the way we practiced today.’ That’s who he is. That’s coach Wilks.’’
Following the losing and the looseness that sunk Ben McAdoo’s ship, the Giants need a coach who will instill a greater sense of discipline, and Wilks could be that guy. He will meet Tuesday with Giants co-owner John Mara, general manager Dave Gettleman and assistant general manager Kevin Abrams at the Giants’ team facility. On Wednesday, the Giants will interview Eric Studesville, the recently fired Broncos running backs coach and assistant head coach, whose interview last week was postponed due to weather travel issues. These will be the fifth and sixth candidates to come in front of the Giants’ brass, following their own defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, Patriots coordinators Matt Patricia (defense) and Josh McDaniels (offense) and Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. This will conclude the first round of interviews.
After leaving the Giants, Wilks is scheduled to meet with the Cardinals on Wednesday. Patricia is considered the favorite to land the Lions’ head-coaching job. McDaniels was often linked with the Bears, but Monday they hired Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. The Colts’ job remains open, and that could be a landing spot for McDaniels, if he does not get the Giants’ job.
Wilks, 48, has no NFL head-coaching experience and has only been a coordinator in the NFL for this one season, which ended with the Panthers losing to the Saints 31-26 in an NFC wild-card playoff game. Gettleman was named the Panthers’ general manager in 2013, when Wilks was already the defensive backs coach in Carolina. They spent four years together, and Gettleman will be a strong advocate for Wilks, who will have to overcome his résumé with the force of his personality and vision for the future with the Giants.
Beason sees a potential Wilks hire as groundbreaking, as he would be the first African-American head coach in Giants history.
“Let’s call it what it is,’’ said Beason, who came to the Giants in 2013 via a trade from the Panthers, dealt away by Gettleman. “The league’s probably closer to 80 percent than it is 70 percent African-American. In terms of relating, coach Wilks is like that big uncle you always were cool with growing up. Internally for players it’s definitely an advantage. In the New York market, it’s huge, it’s polarizing, it’s No. 1, I think it would be a good look, because he is African-American. Whether they’ve never done that before, which they haven’t, if the guy is a worthy candidate I think it’s a great look for Mr. Mara and the country.’’
Beason, who retired after the 2015 season, returned to Florida and currently is an analyst for CBS Sports Interactive in Fort Lauderdale, views a Wilks hire as a perfect fit with Odell Beckham Jr., the Giants’ mercurial superstar receiver.
“To be able to pull him to the side and be like, ‘Hey, man, listen, this is going on, that is going on, maybe a little less of this, more of that, good job with this.’ I think that’s important,’’ Beason said. “Odell is the face of the team. It’s not Eli Manning anymore, let’s call it what it is. Odell Beckham is the New York Giants’ face. Knowing Wilks, knowing Odell, I think it would be a great relationship, but it probably would be a relationship you wouldn’t know about, which is the way it should be.’’