Dennard Wilson (born March 31, 1982) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former safety who is the

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He is a former American football safety in the NFL who was signed as a free agent by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in 2004. He played college football at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and matriculated with a bachelor's degree in Communications.

Professional career

Wilson enters his 16th NFL season. Wilson started his NFL coaching career with the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

/St. Louis Rams for five seasons. Following his stint with the Rams, Wilson coached four seasons with the New York Jets as the defensive backs coach. He added passing game coordinator duties as well in 2019. Under Wilson's tutelage, Jamal Adams earned

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

and

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

honors following the 2018 and '19 seasons after ranking first in sacks and tackles for loss among all NFL defensive backs during that span. Wilson moved onto to be the Defensive Backs coach for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in 2021. Named as the Passing game coordinator during the 2022–2023 season, Wilson's defensive backs helped the Eagles to be the #1 passing defense while finishing #2 total defense in the NFL. During this season, cornerbacks

James Bradberry James Bradberry IV (born August 4, 1993) is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Samford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the second round o ...

was named NFL 1st team

and

Darius Slay Darius Demetrius Slay Jr. (born January 1, 1991) is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the s ...

was named to his 5th

. In addition, safety C. J. Gardner-Johnson was converted from slot corner and led the NFL in interceptions while only playing in 12 games. Following the 2022-23 season, Dennard departed the Eagles. Shortly after he was named Defensive Backs coach with the

Player Personnel / Scouting

He spent three years as a pro scout in the player personnel department for the Chicago Bears.

Playing career

Wilson played cornerback and safety for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

from

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

until 2003, appearing in 42 games and making 30 starts. He totaled 158 tackles and was an honorable All-ACC pick as a senior after leading the Terrapins with 12 pass defenses. Wilson was a four-year letter winner and three-year starting defensive back for the Terps. As a captain of the team, Wilson was an honorable mention All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

performer as a senior in 2003. An undrafted free agent, Wilson signed with the

in 2004 and spent time on their practice squad before suffering a season-ending injury.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Dennard 1982 births Living people American football safeties Chicago Bears scouts Los Angeles Rams coaches Maryland Terrapins football players New York Jets coaches People from Upper Marlboro, Maryland Players of American football from Prince George's County, Maryland Philadelphia Eagles coaches St. Louis Rams coaches Washington Redskins players African-American players of American football African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people