The Commanders have quickly decided to give veteran defensive coach Steve Wilks more duties.
Via Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan in D.C., Wilks is expected to join the coaching staff during games as of Sunday night vs. the Eagles.
After the Week 6 loss to the 49ers, the Commanders hired Wilks to assist with game-planning during the week. Before even one game was played under that new arrangement, Wilks will be doing more.
Wilks currently serves as a special assistant to athletics at Appalachian State, where he played college football.
His lengthy coaching career includes one year as the Cardinals’ head coach, in 2018. He has worked as defensive coordinator for the Panthers in 2017, the Browns in 2019, the 49ers in 2023, and the Jets in 2025.
For the 2023 season, Wilks returned to the Panthers as defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach; after the abrupt firing of Frank Reich, Wilks went 6-6 as the interim head coach.
It’s another defensive mind, along with an experienced head coach, to help head coach Dan Quinn, whose background is on the defensive side of the ball. Quinn hired Daronte Jones earlier this year to serve as the team’s defensive coordinator.
The inescapable reality, as it relates to Wilks’s presence, is that he provides another option to serve as interim head coach, if Commanders owner Josh Harris decides to make an in-season change.