Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is back in the NFL. He has been in a new job every year since he was hired by the Cardinals in 2018. Now he joins the coaching staff of the Washington Commanders as a defensive advisor, according to The Athletic's Jonathan Jones.
However, this is not a sudden move the Commanders and head coach Dan Quinn made. It wasn't a response to their loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.
Per Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter, this move was agreed to a month ago and he was scheduled to start this week. He will not have a game-day role. He will not be with the Commanders on game days. He will advise and help with game planning from Sunday night through Wednesday, when practices begin.
The Cardinals will
play the Commanders in Week 12.
Wilks has bounced around. Since he was hired as the Cardinals' head coach in 2018 and fired after one season, he has had one-year gigs everywhere. He was fired after the Cardinals went 3-13 in his only year as head coach.
He was defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns for one season in 2019.
In 2020, he was out of work.
In 2021, he went to the college ranks as defensive coordinator for Missouri.
In 2022, he was the defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach for the Carolina Panthers. He finished the season as interim head coach, but he was not retained after that.
In 2023, he was the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2024, he was a volunteer advisor at Charlotte in the college ranks.
In 2025, he was defensive coordinator for the New York Jets, but he was not retained.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Washington Commanders add former Cardinals HC Steve Wilks to defensive staff
