New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has made his first major addition to his coaching staff, bringing on the experienced Steve Wilks to take over as defensive coordinator.
He will assume play-calling duties for the defense after Glenn ensured at his introductory press conference on Monday that he would not garner such responsibilities in his first-career head-coaching gig. Glenn spent the previous four seasons as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator.
Wilks has spent the last 20 years working as a defensive coach at the NFL level, working with Washington, the Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers, and Carolina Panthers as a secondary/defensive backs coach from 2005-2016.
He was also named assistant head coach of the Panthers for the 2015 and 2016 seasons before getting his first defensive coordinator gig in 2017.
After one season as Carolina’s defensive coordinator, he was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, where he spent just one season.
He held one-year defensive coordinator positions with the Cleveland Browns in 2019, the Panthers again in 2022 (he was promoted to interim head coach mid-season), and the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.
With the 49ers, Wilks had the No. 3 ranked defense in the league to help anchor the team to an NFC Championship, though they ultimately lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs. Still, he was dismissed following the successful season.
Now in New York, Wilks has a defense teeming with top-tier talent like defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner. He will be responsible for unlocking a unit that grew stale during a disastrous 2024 campaign under Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich.
Despite ranking third in fewest yards allowed for a second-straight season, Gang Green’s defense ranked 20th in points allowed.
