Former Panthers Coach Reunites With Steve Wilks at New Job
By Chris Schad
Former Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks was back in the news when he was named the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets this week. After a year with the San Francisco 49ers, Wilks spent the past year as a consultant for The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is now reestablishing some of the connections he made in the NFL.
While we won’t know which players he could reunite with until free agency begins next month, the process has begun as Aaron Glenn assembles his staff. As defensive coordinator, Wilks will be one of the biggest voices in Glenn’s ear and it showed when he added a former Panthers coach to his staff over the weekend.
Former Panthers Defensive Coordinator Eric Washington Reuniting with Steve Wilks in New York
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Jets will hire Eric Washington as their new defensive line coach next week. Washington previously served as the defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers for the 2018 and 2019 seasons and held the same position with the Chicago Bears last season.
The Jets are hiring Eric Washington as their new defensive line coach, sources tell @NFLonCBS. Washington previously served as DC for the Bears and Panthers and was the assistant head coach with the Bills in 2023. He and Jets DC Steve Wilks worked together for years in Carolina pic.twitter.com/3kxEOSvOrq
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 31, 2025
The hire is interesting due to the connection that Wilks and Washington had in Carolina. Washington joined as the Panthers’ defensive line coach in 2011 and Wilks joined Ron Rivera’s staff as the defensive backs coach the following season.
Wilks made his way up the ladder quickly, earning a promotion to assistant head coach in 2015 and becoming Carolina’s defensive coordinator in 2017 before he was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. After holding the defensive line coach role for seven seasons, Washington was promoted to defensive coordinator following Wilks’ departure but it didn’t end well as the Panthers ranked 15th in total defense and 19th in scoring defense in 2018 and ranked 23rd in total defense and 31st in scoring in 2019.
In between his stints as a defensive coordinator, Washington bounced around, becoming the Buffalo Bills’ defensive line coach for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before becoming a senior defensive assistant in 2022 and an assistant head coach in 2023. Washington’s time with the Bears was also double-sided as Chicago ranked 13th in points allowed but 27th in total defense before he was dismissed with the rest of Matt Eberflus’s staff at the end of the year.
The good news is that Wilks and Washington will be working with plenty of talent in New York including Will McDonald (10.5 sacks last season), Quinnen Williams (6.0 sacks) and Michael Clemons (4.5 sacks). After orchestrating a defense that helped take Carolina to the Super Bowl in 2015, a reunion could help the Jets' unit collect itself next season.
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