Prior to his one-year stint as the defensive backs coach of the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson served in the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons.
And in those two seasons, the Eagles sported the No. 11 and No. 1 pass defenses, respectively, before falling all the way to 31st in 2023.
Prior to said 2023 season, the Eagles, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance, saw their defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, poached by the Arizona Cardinals.
Instead of turning to an in-house option like Wilson, the Eagles ultimately hired Sean Desai for the job and also brought in Matt Patricia as a senior adviser.
Wilson was fired shortly thereafter, with head coach Nick Sirianni reportedly believing Wilson would not work well with his new defensive coordinator.
While no one can say for sure how Wilson would have panned out, he could not have been any worse than Desai, who lost play-calling duties after 13 weeks and was fired after the season. Patricia didn’t fare any better.
Meanwhile, Wilson moved on to Baltimore, where he oversaw one of the league’s best pass defenses (the Ravens finished with the No. 6 unit).
Back in January, veteran Eagles cornerback Darius Slay made it clear he thought the decision not to keep Wilson was a mistake.
“I think he would have made a lot of difference,” he said, per Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He was loved by us. I thought, for sure, he should have stayed.”
No cap D-Will Damn Sure Deserve it !! He help me elevate my game most def 🫡 https://t.co/Ihjp014C0G
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) February 25, 2023
And Slay made no bones about his belief that things would have been much better if Wilson was named the defensive coordinator, or even simply stayed on as defensive backs coach. He also shot down the idea that Wilson wasn’t willing to work with Desai.
“It would have been better, regardless,” Slay said. “He told me he was willing to be the DB coach.”
Slay went on to praise Wilson further, saying he has “the right mentality” to lead players and was a fan of the defensive coach’s honesty.
“Defense is a mentality. He has the right mentality to lead people in the right direction,” Slay said. “When he speaks it, you can understand and, like, feel what he’s speaking on.”
“He wasn’t a guy who just came in the room and said, ‘This is what we do. Done,’” he added. “He put some life aspects to it. And he was an honest dude.”
Slay also liked the way Wilson held his players accountable.
“I always hold myself accountable, but it’s always a greater feeling to feel that your coach will hold you accountable to a high, high level, too,” Slay explained.
While the messy ending between Wilson and the Eagles has no bearing on his new job in Tennessee, Slay’s comments shed more light on just how good of a coach the Titans are getting in their new defensive coordinator.
