Steve Wilks Joins Commanders’ Staff

Wilks, who briefly left the NFL to join Appalachian State’s staff in May, started with the Commanders last week. He is assisting Quinn and first-year defensive coordinator Daronte Jones on a part-time basis, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. Wilks is helping with game-planning, though he is not involved on gamedays.

The Commanders planned to hire Wilks since the beginning of the season, Rapoport relays. It’s unclear why it took until nearly the midpoint of the campaign, but regardless, Quinn and Jones believe he can help them right the ship defensively. The 1-4-1 Commanders rank 29th in the league in points allowed, 26th in total defense, and 25th in sacks and EPA, among other unflattering statistics.

Wilks, who went into coaching in 1995 as the defensive coordinator at Johnson C. Smith University, has garnered vast experience in the pros and in college. He got his first NFL job as the Bears’ defensive backs coach in 2006 and rose to assistant head coach/defensive coordinator with the Panthers in 2017.

Wilks impressed enough as an assistant to become the Cardinals’ head coach in 2018, but with then-rookie quarterback Josh Rosen clearly overmatched, the team finished 3-13. The Cardinals then fired Wilks, who has since had short D-coordinator stints in the pros with the Browns (2019), 49ers (2023) and Jets (2025). He was also the Panthers’ interim head coach after they fired Matt Rhule in 2022. Wilks took over a 1-4 Carolina team and guided it to a respectable 6-6 mark, but he has not gotten another head coaching opportunity since then.

Although the 49ers boasted a top-three scoring defense and won the NFC with Wilks in a key position, they canned him after a 25-22 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII. The 57-year-old was unable to make it through all of last season in New York, where head coach Aaron Glenn relieved him of his duties in mid-December. The Jets went the entire year without an interception and allowed the second-most points in the league.