After another disastrous season, the New York Jets have fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks out of the blue. The firing shocked many, as this one happened out of nowhere and with the season already winding down, with the Jets now eliminated from playoff contention.
Wilks is a veteran coach whose career began as a defensive coordinator in 1995, serving mostly as the defensive coordinator for college and NFL teams, as well as a defensive backs coach. He did become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, though he usually goes back to being a DC. With his firing from his job with the New York Jets, many are now wondering about his family.
He has been married to Marcia Wilks for around 25 years now, with their children already adults and teens. They have three kids together, two daughters and one son. The eldest, Marissa, is already in her mid-20s, while second daughter Melanni is already in her late teens. Their only son, Steven James, is now a middle school student.
Marissa used to go to school at Spelman College, and not much is known about his two youngest kids, though he used to drop them off from school.
As for Marcia, they have been together even during his days coaching Savannah State, when the NFL had been a distant memory. He had shifted job to job, changing cities and constantly moving, and he had even admitted that she had become a master at moving.
“That old saying, ‘Your better half,’ that’s just really an understatement for me,” Wilks had said in 2018. “Because it really is.”
With this latest firing, Wilks may have to move again to a different city, though it seems his family has already been used to this sort of lifestyle.
How Steve Wilks Ended Up In The NFL
While Steve Wilks was still a college coach, he bounced around cities, but it was always his dream to coach in the NFL. When he found out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had an opening for defensive backs coach before the 2005 season, he pounced, using his connections with former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Kent Baer to apply for the job. However, he did not get the job.
Instead, then-Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin gave his name to then-Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith, and the rest is history, as he landed his first NFL job.
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