Brian Duker was recently announced as the new defensive coordinator of the New York Jets. He will replace Steve Wilks, who was fired during the 2025 NFL season, and will give head coach Aaron Glenn a new look. Here’s everything you need to know about the hire, who is getting his first opportunity to serve in this role on any team during his career so far.
What is Brian Duker’s Coaching History Before Being Hired as Jets’ Defensive Coordinator?
Duker began his NFL coaching career in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns as a defensive intern. He spent just one year with the franchise before joining the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 as a defensive analyst. He also departed them after just a year, but landed with the Baltimore Ravens for a longer stay.
He spent three seasons with the Ravens as a defensive staff assistant and a coaching analyst for their defense. John Harbaugh was their head coach at the time, and Wink Martindale was the defensive coordinator, so he worked under some highly respected coaches. He was part of the staff when Baltimore ranked among the best defenses in the NFL, finishing seventh or better in PFSN’s Impact Rankings in all three years he was there.
Duker left the Ravens to join the Detroit Lions ahead of the 2021 NFL season, where he was initially hired as a defensive assistant coach for his first year. He then served as a safeties coach and defensive backs coach for one season each. Here, he worked directly under Glenn, their defensive coordinator, who is now his head coach for the Jets.
The relationship they built in Detroit likely played a role in his eventually becoming the Jets’ defensive coordinator, though he spent two years with the Miami Dolphins before getting the job. His role included serving as their secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator, and his relative success, paired with his history with Glenn, was apparently enough to earn him the promotion in New York.
Glenn and Duker will reunite for the 2026 season in an ongoing effort to revamp the Jets’ defense as a whole. In addition to Wilks lasting less than a full season in the position, they also traded two of their biggest defensive stars at the deadline last year. This includes sending Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys and Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts, leaving them plenty of work to do in their rebuild.
