New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn fires defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after surrendering 48 factors
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after Sunday’s 48-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Glenn made the announcement Monday morning after his team fell to just 3-11 with three games remaining on the season.
The Jets defense has allowed 337.4 yards per game this year, which was better than all but 12 NFL teams. Furthermore, New York has surrendered 28.4 points a game to rank 30th in the league in scoring defense.
Secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator Chis Harris will serve as interim defensive coordinator for the rest of the season. He made a name for himself as a safety over eight NFL seasons before becoming an assistant coach in Chicago, San Diego, Washington and Tennessee.
The Jets defense lost two major starters in trades this season after sending cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to Indianapolis and Dallas, respectively.
Since then, the Jets defense has surrendered an average of 29.3 points a game, including 82 over the last two weeks alone.
New York Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has been fired after Sunday’s loss
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn made the announcement on Monday morning
Glenn, a former cornerback and defensive coordinator, was asked about relieving Wilks of his play-calling duties after the loss, but seemed to defend his assistant.
‘I brought Steve Wilks in for a reason, and I want him to run his system,’ Glenn said. ‘We have three games left, three games left for our guys to go out there and play. Right now, It´s not about the X’s and O´s. Across the board, it´s about the character of the men on this team. And that´s what I´m evaluating.’
One of the more experienced coaches in football, Wilks has been on the sidelines since 1995 and once served as interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
But with a number of questions facing the Jets defense, as well as a number of expected personnel changes on the horizon, the 56-year-old Wilks was seen as expendable.
There is good news for the Jets in next April’s NFL Draft, though. Thanks to the aforementioned trades, New York has the Colts’ first-round pick and the Cowboys’ second-round pick, giving Jets general manager Darren Mougey ample opportunity to add an impact starter on defense, even if the team decides to take a quarterback with its first selection.
Some names to keep an eye on are Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell, Georgia linebacker CJ Allen and Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell, just to name a few possibilities.
