Redskins Coaching Rumors: Steve Wilks to be Ron Rivera's Defensive Coordinator in Washington

Things are moving quickly, and while nothing is official, moves continue to leak out about the Redskins coaching situation. Multiple reports say Ron Rivera is expected to become the next head coach of the Washington Redskins during his meeting with owner Dan Snyder today.

The Redskins current coaching staff is expected to be relieved of their duties today, with the possibility that a few assistants, and possibly Offensive Coordinator Kevin O'Connell are retained. Greg Manusky has been on his way out since the team tried replacing him last year, but no one agreed to sign on for Jay Gruden's lame duck season.

Michael Phillips reports that Ron Rivera plans to bring Steve Wilks to Washington to be the new defensive coordinator for the Redskins. Wilks was Rivera' defensive backs during his final season as the Chicago Bears defensive coordinator. He was also Rivera's DBs coach with the San Diego Chargers from 2009-2010. Rivera became the Carolina Panthers head coach in 2011, and Wilks joined him there a year later to once again be his DBs coach. In 2015 he added Assistant Head Coach to his title, and then in 2017 he was bumped up to Asst HC/Defensive Coordinator. Wilks parlayed that into a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, but he was fired after one season. He spent this season as the Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator, but HC Freddie Kitchens was fired yesterday.

It has been reported multiple times that Dan Snyder would like the next coach to run a 4-3 defense. This is something that Rivera/Wilks will bring with them to Washington. The Redskins have been running the 3-4 for the last decade, but many fans would like to see them switch back. Looks like that will be happening in 2020.