Former Tennessee Vols coach named as a candidate for the Illinois defensive coordinator job
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A former Tennessee Vols assistant coach was named this week as a candidate for the Illinois Fighting Illini’s defensive coordinator job.
Illinois is in the market for a new defensive coordinator after losing Aaron Henry to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Henry had served as the defensive coordinator at Illinois for the last three seasons.
Former Vols defensive coordinator named as an option for Illinois
On3’s Pete Nakos put out a list of potential candidates for Illinois on Tuesday and he included former Vols defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox.
Wilcox, who served as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011, most recently served as the head coach at California (2017 to 2025). He was fired in November after going 6-5 through the team’s first 11 games of the season.
“Justin Wilcox was fired at the end of November after he went 48-55 over nine seasons with the Golden Bears,” wrote Nakos. “The sixth-winningest coach in program history was dismissed following an embarrassing loss at Stanford. Wilcox was previously the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, USC, Washington, Tennessee and Boise State. His 2016 Wisconsin defense ranked No. 4 in the nation. His 2015 USC unit led the Pac-12 in third-down conversion defense and scored five defensive touchdowns.”
Wilcox previously spent one season in the Big 10 as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin in 2016.
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Feb 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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