Jets will hire Steve Wilks as their defensive coordinator

New Jets head coach Aaron Glenn is set to add an experienced assistant to his staff as the defensive coordinator.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Jets will hire Steve Wilks in that role. Glenn said at a press conference this week that he will not call defensive plays, so Wilks will be handling that responsibility.

Wilks was fired as the 49ers’ coordinator after the team lost last year’s Super Bowl to the Chiefs. He had a one-year stint with the Panthers before that and served as their interim head coach to close out the year after Matt Rhule was fired. Wilks also spent the 2018 season as the Cardinals’ head coach and he’s had other coordinator stints with the Browns and Panthers over nearly two decades in the NFL.

Landing Wilks checks off one big box for the Jets, but Glenn still needs to hire a coordinator to run their offense.