Joe

Woods

This is Woods’ first reported interview in 2026. He has been in his current roles with the Raiders for just one season, and served as the Saints’ defensive coordinator from 2023-2024. Aside from the Saints, Woods has also served as defensive coordinator with the Browns (2020-2022) and Broncos (2017-2018).

Woods joined the Saints in 2023 to serve as their defensive coordinator and has also made stops as a coordinator with the Broncos (2017-2018) and the Browns (2020-2022). Woods has twice coached a defense that ranked in the top five in yards allowed per game and had the Saints ranking 13th in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed in 2023. Things bottomed out for the team last season, but last year’s struggles are due more to organizational failures. Woods’ role with the Raiders hasn’t been clearly defined, but regardless of what it is, he should provide a good veteran presence to the Raiders’ organization.

It’s a quick turnaround for Woods, who was dismissed by the Browns after two seasons as their defensive coordinator. Woods replaces co-defensive coordinators Ryan Nielsen and Kris Richard and takes on a Saints defense that ranked ninth in points allowed per game (20.3) and fifth in yards allowed per game. In his last season with the Browns, Woods’ defense struggled to stop the run but was stout through the air, allowing less than 200 passing yards per game. Woods’ fingerprints are on some of the better defenses we’ve seen over the last few years, as he served as the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for the 49ers in 2019, and was the defensive backs coach for the Broncos when they won the Super Bowl in 2015. For now, it appears Woods has parlayed his firing from the Browns into a better opportunity with the Saints.

Woods was fired as the Browns’ defensive coordinator shortly after the season concluded. Woods’ defense struggled all season against the run and ranked 13th in points allowed per game, but did allow the fifth-fewest passing yards per game (196.3). Woods is a familiar face to Saints head coach Dennis Allen, as the two worked together in 2014 when Woods was the defensive backs coach on Allen’s coaching staff with the Raiders. The Saints recently lost both co-defensive coordinators from last season, so it’s likely Woods will be one of several candidates who will interview for the job in the coming days.

The Browns had their moments on defense this season. For example, they held Joe Burrow to just 13 points in Week 8. However, they were highly susceptible to the run this season, becoming one of the biggest run funnels in the league. The Browns allowed the 13th most points this year, but their clear point of attack for opposing offenses made life difficult at times. Woods joined Stefanski in Cleveland when he was hired as head coach in 2020. Woods had previously served as defensive coordinator for the Broncos and has also been a defensive backs coach.

The hiring will be official soon. Woods was always the favorite to succeed Steve Wilks as Cleveland’s D coordinator but obviously he had a busy January and early February with San Francisco advancing all the way to Super Bowl LIV in Miami. The 49-year-old has mostly served as a position coach in the NFL, though he did coordinate the Broncos’ defense for two years under Vance Joseph. Though they underachieved this past season, the Browns boast a talented defense led by elite pass-rusher Myles Garrett and Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward.

With DC Steve Wilks recently notified that his services won’t be retained, all signs point to Woods being hired as long as the two sides can agree to contract terms “at the appropriate time.” Woods and new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski previously worked together in Minnesota from 2006 to 2013 while the former filled an assistant coaching role. Woods, 49, also filled the role as Denver’s defensive coordinator for two seasons before jumping ship to San Francisco in the offseason, ranking 3rd- and 22nd-overall in yards allowed in ’17 and ’18.

Per Rapsheet, the Browns are also considering incumbent Steve Wilks as well as Rams alum Wade Phillips. Woods, who is in the final year of his current contract, previously worked with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski in Minnesota. No team allowed fewer passing yards than San Francisco during the regular season (169.2 per game).

Woods spent the past two years working for Vance Joseph in Denver. He will work under Robert Saleh in San Francisco, apparently overseeing his pass defense.

After logging 13 years as a DBs coach, Woods is finally getting his first job as a defensive coordinator. Woods was really the only candidate new coach Vance Joseph ever considered to anchor his defense. He’ll be replacing Wade Phillips, who accepted a position as the Rams new defensive coordinator. Led by All-Pro cornerbacks Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, Denver allowed the league’s fewest passing yards per game this past season.