Steven Bernard Wilks (born August 8, 1969) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the

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(NFL). A defensive assistant for most of his career, he was the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

when they reached

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and the

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

when they reached

Super Bowl LVIII Super Bowl LVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. A rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years prior, the American Football Conference (AFC) 20 ...

. Wilks was also the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in 2018 and the interim head coach of the Panthers in 2022.

Early life and playing career

Wilks was born in Charlotte and attended

West Charlotte High School West Charlotte High School (also called Dub-C or WC) is a comprehensive high school in west Charlotte, near Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is state-funded. History West Charlotte High School was founded in 1938. The original ...

. He played

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

from 1987 to 1991 at Appalachian State. Wilks played one year (1993) in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

for the

Charlotte Rage The Charlotte Rage were a professional arena football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They were members of the Arena Football League from 1992 to 1996. They played their home games at the Charlotte Coliseum from 1992 to 1994 and t ...

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

Coaching career

College

Wilks served as the head coach at Savannah State College for one season (1999) and compiled a record of 5–6. He coached college-level football until 2005.

Chicago Bears

On February 16, 2006, Wilks was hired by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as defensive backs coach. On December 30, 2008, the Bears announced that they had fired Wilks.

San Diego Chargers

Wilks was hired as defensive backs coach of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in 2009. He worked under former Bears defensive coordinator and then-Chargers defensive coordinator

Ron Rivera Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962) is an American football executive and former professional player and coach who is the general manager for the California Golden Bears. He played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as ...

, with Rivera promoted from defensive backs coach.

Carolina Panthers (first stint)

When Rivera became head coach of the Panthers, he hired Wilks as secondary coach on January 15, 2012. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2015. He was Pro Football Focus' second runner up to their Secondary Coach of the Year award. In the 2015 season, Wilks and the Panthers finished 15–1 and reached

on February 7, 2016. The Panthers fell to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

by a score of 24–10. After defensive coordinator

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia E ...

left to become head coach of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, Wilks was promoted to McDermott's former position. After the 2017 season, Wilks was an extremely hot commodity for teams in need of new head coaches. According to Ian Rapoport of the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

, teams were impressed by Wilks' interview with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the previous offseason before they eventually hired

Sean McVay Sean Patrick McVay (born January 24, 1986) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He became the youngest NFL head coach in the modern era when he was hired ...

. Wilks also interviewed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, who had hired David Gettleman as general manager. Gettleman previously served as general manager for the Panthers.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 22, 2018, Wilks was hired as head coach of the

, replacing Bruce Arians. In the 2018 season opener against the Washington Redskins, Wilks made his head coaching debut with a 24–6 loss. In Week 5, against the San Francisco 49ers, he recorded his first NFL victory as a head coach. He finished coaching the season with a league-worst 3–13 record, the worst record for the Cardinals since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. On December 31, 2018, the Cardinals fired Wilks.

Cleveland Browns

On January 14, 2019, Wilks was hired by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

to be their defensive coordinator under head coach Freddie Kitchens. He was not retained for the 2020 season under new head coach

Kevin Stefanski Kevin Lawrence Stefanski (born May 8, 1982) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the ...

Missouri

On January 21, 2021, after 13 seasons with the NFL, Wilks returned to college football. He was hired by the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

as their defensive coordinator under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz.

Carolina Panthers (second stint)

On February 9, 2022, Wilks returned to the NFL and to the Carolina Panthers, who announced the hiring of Wilks as Matt Rhule's new defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach. On October 10, 2022, after Rhule was fired, Wilks was named the Panthers' interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Wilks led Carolina to a 6–6 record over the season's remaining 12 weeks, but was passed over for the permanent head coaching position in favor of

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

San Francisco 49ers

On February 9, 2023, it was reported that the

hired Wilks as their defensive coordinator. During the 2023

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, 49ers' general manager John Lynch confirmed that Wilks was hired as their defensive coordinator. On February 14, 2024, he was fired following their loss in

, following a season of inconsistency on defense.

Charlotte

In August 2024, Wilks became a volunteer advisor for the

Charlotte 49ers football The Charlotte 49ers football program represents the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in college football. The UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees officially voted to add a football program on November 13, 2008, after a unanimous recommenda ...

program.

New York Jets

On February 1, 2025, the

named Wilks as their defensive coordinator under head coach

Aaron Glenn Aaron Devone Glenn (born July 16, 1972) is an American professional football coach and former cornerback who is the head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the ...

Head coaching record

College

NFL

* – Interim head coach

Personal life

Wilks is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He is married to Marcia Wilks. They have two daughters and one son.

References

External links

New York Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilks, Steve 1969 births Living people American football defensive backs American football wide receivers Appalachian State Mountaineers football coaches Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Arizona Cardinals head coaches Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Carolina Panthers coaches Carolina Panthers head coaches Charlotte Rage players Chicago Bears coaches Cleveland Browns coaches East Tennessee State Buccaneers football coaches Illinois State Redbirds football coaches Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches NFL defensive coordinators New York Jets coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Savannah State Tigers football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen