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The Washington Commanders hired Steve Wilks to help with defensive game planning. Why?
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00:00I want to have a conversation about the Steve Wilkes thing.
00:04News came out yesterday, I believe it was Mike Garofalo,
00:07who reported the Commanders have brought Steve Wilkes in
00:11to help with defensive game planning.
00:15Steve Wilkes has a long-tenured NFL career.
00:21He was Ron Rivera's defensive coordinator with the Panthers.
00:26I remember when Ron got hired here,
00:28I thought he was going to bring Wilkes in to be his D.C.
00:32It was kind of a surprise when Ron went with Jack Del Rio.
00:37Obviously wasn't all that successful.
00:42Wilkes left Carolina to take over as the head coach in Arizona.
00:46That lasted one year.
00:48That was a pretty big deal when Wilkes got fired after one year
00:52because at that stage of the NFL in 2018, almost 10 years ago,
00:57you didn't see many coaches get fired after one year.
01:00Most guys got at least two still.
01:02Now firing after one has become way more normal.
01:06From Arizona as the head coach, he then went to Cleveland as a D.C.
01:10Then he went back to Carolina where he was D.C. again.
01:14I want to say when they fired Ron, is that when they brought Matt Rule in?
01:19Who succeeded Ron?
01:20I think it was Rule, but I could be wrong on that.
01:23And so Wilkes was the defensive coordinator again for the Panthers.
01:27When they fired whoever that dude was eventually,
01:31Wilkes got the interim job and actually did a good job.
01:36They went 6-6 down the stretch with Wilkes.
01:39And I think there was a real conversation if the Panthers should keep Wilkes
01:44because they kind of responded to him.
01:46They did not, obviously.
01:48I think that's when they hired Canales.
01:50I think the Canales move is going pretty well.
01:52He really has done a good job in helping to develop Bryce Young,
01:57who's starting to play really well.
01:59So, yeah, so they fired Ron.
02:02Rule took over.
02:03They blew out Rule six games in.
02:06And then Wilkes took over.
02:09I mean, they were way better with Wilkes.
02:11But, no, you know who they went to after that?
02:13Frank Reich, which was a disaster, and he got fired.
02:16And then they went to Canales.
02:21Wilkes, the only real overlap, which I find kind of interesting,
02:26the only real overlap with Steve Wilkes and the current staff
02:31is his one year in San Francisco in 2023
02:35when he got fired after that year
02:37because the defense was just super inconsistent.
02:39And I think particularly in the Super Bowl,
02:42he got blamed for stuff that was probably not just his fault,
02:45but he got to find somebody to blame.
02:48And obviously, Adam Peters was in San Francisco in 23
02:51for that Super Bowl loss as well.
02:54Now Wilkes is here.
02:56The specific wording of this I find interesting.
03:00This is from Garofalo.
03:01The commanders have hired Steve Wilkes
03:03to work with the defensive coaches under Dan Quinn and Durante Jones.
03:06The decision to hire Wilkes was made last month.
03:09He started last week.
03:11Wilkes will help with game planning.
03:12He won't be with the team on game day.
03:15It's my understanding he comes to town like Sunday night,
03:17and he's there until Wednesday after practice and takes off.
03:21Help install.
03:22I have a number of thoughts here.
03:24My top thought, which I want to expel a notion
03:30that I've seen online anyway,
03:32and I don't know if you'll agree with me.
03:33Please let me know.
03:34But a lot of people are like,
03:37oh, they're bringing Wilkes in to set him up
03:40to be the interim head coach if they fired Dan.
03:43I do not think that is at all the case.
03:45I don't think so.
03:46If they have to fire Dan,
03:49which at halftime of that Niners game,
03:51you really wondered what was going to happen.
03:53But they keep coming back, right?
03:54That's Dan's superpowers.
03:55He keeps these teams together.
03:57I still think Josh Harris is the kind of guy.
04:02Harris' first year of ownership,
04:04he had Ron Rivera, and they went 3-13,
04:06and he didn't fire him until after the season.
04:08I don't think Harris is a fire guys in-season kind of guy.
04:12We'll see how the rest of the schedule unfolds, certainly.
04:15I do think if things keep going poorly
04:18and you've got back-to-back roadies
04:19against the Cardinals and the Titans,
04:21if those go bad, maybe you see what happens.
04:23I don't think they want to fire Harris in-season.
04:26I do not, crystal clear here,
04:28I do not think Wilks is being brought in
04:30in a game-planning capacity
04:33to step in as an interim should something happen.
04:36I think if you need an interim should something happen,
04:39you look at Izzo, you look at Lin.
04:41Those are the guys that make sense to me.
04:43So I wanted to dispel that notion off the top.
04:47I think some would say
04:50Wilks has been around longer
04:53than this reporting shows, right?
04:55That, like, if they were...
04:58According to Garofalo,
05:00the decision to hire Wilks was made last month.
05:03It's October 22nd.
05:05Last month was damn near 30 days ago.
05:08I'm guessing he's had some involvement
05:10in some capacity.
05:11Maybe it's just breaking down all 22 or whatever
05:13for more than just this past week.
05:16Yeah.
05:16A lot of things happen in the league
05:18where you don't get it right when it happens.
05:19You get it later on
05:21where they couldn't hold it anymore.
05:23They got to finally say something.
05:25Right.
05:26I think eventually
05:28somebody probably saw him.
05:30It was like, wait, why is that dude here?
05:32Yeah.
05:35So, if you want to read into this
05:36as, like, the bye week making a big move,
05:39I don't view it as such.
05:40I think it's weird with this commander's defense
05:44because I do believe the eye test
05:49shows something that's much different than last year.
05:53Do you agree with that?
05:55Watching the games, it does feel different.
05:57Yeah, totally.
05:58The empirical data does not support that theory.
06:01However, they're 29th in points allowed,
06:0326th in yards allowed,
06:04worst red zone defense in the NFL.
06:07They're capable defensively of good halves,
06:10not of good games.
06:11Yeah.
06:12And I think this has the whole team.
06:14I agree.
06:15I totally agree.
06:16They have been really good at creating turnovers.
06:19The turnover margin is in their favor.
06:21They have been really bad
06:22at converting turnovers to scores.
06:26The one time they did it is the one game they won
06:28against Seattle.
06:31So, I am never a person
06:34that is anti-adding more eyeballs,
06:38adding more help, adding more resources.
06:41That's not something I push back on, right?
06:45Like, I can understand why you'd want to do it.
06:48I can understand Durante Jones
06:50is in his first year in this role.
06:53Durante is also a super experienced assistant coach.
06:58Like, he's been around ball as a coach
07:01close to 30 years.
07:04You know what I'm saying?
07:04So, my questions are,
07:09my biggest questions and takeaways from this,
07:14one, Dan Quinn's an experienced defensive coach.
07:19Like, couldn't he help the game planning?
07:22I just, it seems weird to me.
07:25Maybe it's one big question.
07:26But, I think the defense that Dan runs
07:29is totally different than the defense that Durante runs.
07:32But, let me finish.
07:34Steve Wilks could be closer to Durante
07:39with their thought process than anything.
07:42I still believe that Adam being in San Francisco
07:45has a lot to do with this as well.
07:47So, you're looking for the consultants.
07:52We saw Cliff got hired in San Francisco.
07:54I mean, L.A.
07:55L.A. to be a consultant.
07:56Sean don't need Cliff to be no damn consultant.
07:58Sure.
07:59You know what I mean?
07:59So, these things happen.
08:01And I think the familiarity,
08:02and like you said,
08:04having more eyes is why it happens.
08:06It's not necessarily, you know,
08:09this part and that part.
08:10No, let's have another look at this thing
08:11and see if we can see something differently.
08:13Because, it's basically a race
08:16for everybody to become the absolute best.
08:19And you want to get as much experience as you can.
08:21Or to save your jobs, too.
08:22Yeah.
08:23Well, that's part of it.
08:24Listen, getting more experience to win more
08:27helps save people jobs.
08:29I asked Quinn,
08:30the presser he did after the game,
08:33kind of the last time we'll hear from him
08:34until after the bye,
08:34I asked him, you know,
08:36what changes are you considering?
08:38Because, you gotta be.
08:40You're 1-4-1 at the bye.
08:41Things have to go differently.
08:42And he said,
08:43we're looking at big stuff,
08:44we're looking at little stuff.
08:45I did not expect any firings.
08:47I still don't.
08:48You're adding a guy to your defensive
08:51coaching staff in some capacity,
08:53even though he's not there on game days?
08:54Been added already.
08:55Right.
08:56So, that's, that's,
08:57I think we are behind the door.
09:00Now we want to know why.
09:01But, that was added already.
09:04Who do you think made the call to add Wilks?
09:06Don't have a clue.
09:08Because it's Peters that has a relationship.
09:11Yeah.
09:11But, it also is probably naive to think
09:16Dan doesn't have a relationship with Wilks.
09:19I'm just trying to do the math.
09:20Wilks was the head coach in Arizona in 2018.
09:25Right?
09:27That was Quinn's last year in Atlanta, I believe.
09:32Could be.
09:32So, if nothing else,
09:34at NFL league meetings,
09:36where all the coaches are in one room,
09:38like, they certainly know each other.
09:39Yeah.
09:39And, like, have met and have a relationship.
09:44I,
09:45I don't have any problems with this.
09:48Zero.
09:50My biggest question, though, is
09:53surface,
09:5430,000 foot view.
09:56You have one coordinator
09:57with a ton of NFL coaching experience.
10:00He hasn't been in that chair
10:01calling the defenses on game days.
10:03He's got a ton of NFL coaching experience.
10:06The other
10:09is four years removed from playing.
10:11Mm-hmm.
10:12Is one,
10:13is six games removed from being the quarterback's coach.
10:16Yeah.
10:16And, at times,
10:20has looked like a young guy
10:23trying to figure the job out.
10:24Mm-hmm.
10:25Isn't that the guy you bring in the veteran
10:27to help with game planning?
10:29Mm-hmm.
10:30That, to me, would, like.
10:31It's depending on, like,
10:33because I know,
10:33to be honest with you,
10:34Durante had more experience,
10:35but when the jobs were handed,
10:38people had way more love for Blau.
10:41Sure.
10:41Like, he was the guy that was ready.
10:42So, maybe you just thought he was already there,
10:45or could this be another thing coming up
10:48where we got somebody else there, too?
10:50That wouldn't shock me.
10:51You know, so,
10:52my thing is,
10:53I don't think many people
10:55outside that building knew.
10:58And I think,
10:59if there's something else going on right now,
11:00nobody knows it still.
11:05I just,
11:06to me, it's like,
11:08offensively,
11:09things need to happen faster.
11:10I think plays need to get in faster.
11:12That has to.
11:14That needs to.
11:15I think,
11:16on some capacity,
11:17that's impacting
11:18some of the pre-snap stuff
11:19and some of the confusion
11:20at the line of scrimmage.
11:21Like,
11:22this sounds crazy.
11:24I don't know if you agree with me.
11:27Offensively,
11:28the numbers are better.
11:29They're 21st in points.
11:31They're 19th in yards.
11:33They're second.
11:35They don't turn the ball over.
11:36But,
11:37at times,
11:38the offense
11:39seems like it could use
11:41more help on the coaching side
11:42than the defense,
11:43even though the defensive numbers
11:45are worse.
11:46Defensive numbers are worse,
11:47but if you look at
11:48what the defense has done,
11:49give the offense the ball back.
11:51And the offense
11:52don't go get touchdowns
11:53off of it.
11:53They scored in one game,
11:55they won.
11:56In the other games,
11:56they didn't.
11:57So,
11:58maybe,
11:59but like,
12:00I don't think
12:02the pre-snap stuff
12:04has anything to do
12:04with the play.
12:06You know,
12:07when a person is jumping
12:08and a person is lining up
12:09in the wrong spot,
12:10that's young people
12:11just not getting there.
12:12The coach got the play.
12:14You already know the play.
12:15You know the formation.
12:16So,
12:17it's,
12:17in that situation,
12:19players,
12:19to me,
12:20have to be a little bit more
12:22astute and ready to go.
12:23Sure.
12:23Not because
12:24the play was called.
12:25It was in there.
12:26You go line up
12:27in the wrong spot.
12:28That's not the coach.
12:29I still circle back to this,
12:31and we're going to take calls.
12:32800-636-1067.
12:34800-636-1067.
12:36I was downright shocked,
12:38Brian.
12:39Shocked.
12:40The commanders are fighting back
12:42in that game against the Niners,
12:43and it was an impressive effort.
12:45And then the Niners
12:46got the ball
12:49with a minute 54 left
12:51at their own 17.
12:52The Niners needed
12:54one first down
12:55and the game's over.
12:56For the commanders
12:57to get that stop
12:58on that team,
13:00I think one,
13:00might be one of the most
13:01encouraging,
13:02signs of anything happening.
13:04Now, unfortunately,
13:05they couldn't score.
13:06I was shocked
13:07they got that stop.
13:09Yeah.
13:10Could that be something
13:11that Wilkes helped them find?
13:13I don't know.
13:13Yeah.
13:14I also was shocked
13:14how bad they looked
13:15in the first half.
13:16Could that be something
13:17Wilkes helped them find?
13:18I don't know.
13:19Took them a while
13:19to figure it out.
13:20I don't know the answer.