Last Updated on April 30, 2026 10:49 am
BOONE, N.C. – App State football alumnus and NFL coaching veteran Steve Wilks is returning to his alma mater to join the App State Athletics team, Director of Athletics Doug Gillin announced Thursday.
Wilks has been named Special Assistant to Athletics and will assist in a variety of areas, including fundraising initiatives, capital projects and special events. He will work in close partnership with Gillin, the Mountaineers football program and development staff to help drive strategic revenue growth.
“We are thrilled to have Steve back at his alma mater to bring his extensive professional expertise and wisdom to our university and athletics department,” Gillin said. “It's an opportunity not only to have a former NFL head coach impact our program, but also someone who loves the university from which he graduated. This is a huge win for App State.”
Wilks, who will speak and meet with fans throughout the Mountaineer Spring Tour, is a Charlotte native who played defensive back at App State from 1987-91 and earned a degree in communications. Helping the Mountaineers capture Southern Conference championships in 1987 and 1991, he finished his collegiate career with 103 tackles, four interceptions and four blocked kicks.
Wilks was the defensive backs coach at his alma mater in 2001 and has 30 years of coaching experience, including 17 at the NFL level. That includes stints as an NFL head coach and defensive coordinator, with Super Bowl appearances as a coordinator to cap the 2015 and 2023 seasons.
After coaching in the college ranks from 1995-2005, Wilks made the jump to the NFL in 2006 and has coached for Chicago, San Diego, Carolina, Arizona, Cleveland, San Francisco and the New York Jets.
He helped lead the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 regular season and a Super Bowl appearance as the team's assistant head coach and defensive backs coach during the 2015 season, became the Panthers' defensive coordinator in 2017 and spent one year as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach in 2018.
After serving as the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator in 2019 and the defensive coordinator on Eliah Drinkwitz's Missouri staff in 2021, Wilks rejoined the Panthers in 2022 as their defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach. He became Carolina's interim head coach later that season, taking over a 1-4 team and leading it to a 6-6 record the rest of the way.
Wilks was also a defensive coordinator for the 49ers in 2023 and the Jets in 2024, helping San Francisco reach the Super Bowl with the league's third-ranked defense.
He and his wife, Marcia, have two daughters, Marissa and Melanni, and a son, Steven James.
