In the wake of San Francisco’s Super Bowl defeat, a major change has taken place on the sidelines. Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday that defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has been fired.
The decision had not been made until today, Shanahan said in a conference call. He added (via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo) that Wilks’ system did not align with what the team had used with its previous DCs. As a result, Wilks is out after one campaign in the Bay Area. 
As expected, DeMeco Ryans was one of the top coaching candidates in the 2023 hiring cycle. His decision to take charge of the Texans created a vacancy at the defensive coordinator spot, as was the case previously when Robert Saleh was hired as head coach of the Jets. Wilks was brought in following his run as interim head coach of the Panthers, something which many viewed as being sufficient to earn him the full-time position.
Instead, Carolina went with Frank Reich for the job, leaving Wilks to search out a coordinator gig. Expectations were high when he joined the 49ers as Ryans’ replacement, given his experience as an NFL staffer including DC stints during his first Panthers tenure in 2017 and his time with the Browns in 2019. San Francisco’s defense – featuring one of the league’s most highly-regarded front sevens – managed to help bring the team to the Super Bowl, but the unit endured rough patches along the way.
In the regular season, the 49ers ranked in the top eight in both points and yards allowed. The team fared far better against the run than the pass, something which comes as little surprise given the injuries endured at the safety spot in particular. Things took a different turn in the postseason, however, when both the Packers and Lions put up strong numbers on the ground. The effort and attention to detail of Wilks’ unit was called into question leading up to the Super Bowl, including by the 54-year-old himself.
In Sunday’s title game, the Chiefs were held to just three points in the first half. San Francisco also registered an interception in the third quarter, but the team’s defense regressed in the late stages of the contest. On the final drive of regulation, a stop would have won the game, but Kansas City managed to kick the field goal which forced overtime. In the extra frame, the Chiefs’ first possession saw the team drive 75 yards for the winning touchdown. Kansas City finished the contest with 455 yards of offense.
Wilks interviewed for a pair of head coaching positions in this year’s cycle, but he did not emerge as a finalist for the Falcons’ or Chargers’ postings. A move to a new team as defensive coordinator is out of the question for 2024, as every DC spot has been filled in recent days and weeks. Wilks will move forward in search of a position coaching role or a return to the college ranks. He served as defensive coordinator at Missouri in 2021 before jumping back onto an NFL sideline the following year.
Shanahan noted (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle) that he will consider both internal and external candidates to replace Wilks. After going outside the organization last year, it will be interesting if he elects to choose an option more familiar with the scheme used during Saleh and Ryans’ tenures in the position. In any case, the 49ers will have a major vacancy to fill as they begin their offseason.
Thank God! He’s a good dc but not a good fit this team at all. All you had to do was look at his play calling all season and especially in the Super Bowl, in the 4th and Ot, leaving the entire middle of the middle field open like he’s got a huge lead and he’s willing to give up short passes and is in prevent defense. Just weird. I saw it all season but when he did it in the Super Bowl I couldnt believe it.
Well having both of your starting Linebackers who dominated Kelce and the Chiefs injured might have an impact on the middle of the field not being as strong.
Why can’t ppl contribute these two injuries to having two average Linebackers not able to defense a top tiered Kelce and then his ability to gain position on the crossing routes
KC was shut down Mahomes was clueless then his top target was able to beat replacements
Firing tge DC is short sighted
If Wilks schemes don’t fit with the future the franchise wants to go, it’s logical to let him go and find someone who can mesh better.
I’d like to know as to how that wasn’t vetted out during the interview process.
I guess the most important game of
the year really counts though
some outlets insisted Wilks did a good job during the season…
Wilks philosophies just didn’t really line up with how the 49ers had been running their defense, and it reared its head time after time throughout the season.
Most casual fans will look at this as the 49ers needing to place the blame on someone for them losing in the Super Bowl, but trust me when I say Wilks was likely out of the job even if they won.
Shannahan repeatedly disagreed with Wilks play calling throughout the year, and the players liked and respected him, but they also tried to ask Wilks to adjust as well.
Wilks made some adjustments, but he ultimately went back to what he was comfortable with in crucial moments.
He’s a solid DC, but his play calling style didn’t match-up with the 49ers biggest strengths on defense. It was just a bad fit from the get go when he was brought in and told to keep running the 49ers style of defense.
This had to be done, unfortunately, but it is easily in the 49ers and Wilks best interests to just move on and go their separate ways. Wilks needs to go somewhere he can truly run his own defense and not be handcuffed.
Shanahan was the guy who stopped running the ball in the 3rd quarter. Major mistake. Wilk’s defense held KC down that whole quarter. That was their chance to jump on top- Shanahan blew it- not Wilks.
The players on defense were the ones who didn’t blow it. Wilks tried his hardest to put them in position to blow it, though, with some insane calls (that 4th and 1 call in OT, for instance).
That’s cold. The defense and Jennings was the only thing working in the Super Bowl.
The defense worked until Wilks decided to let the Chiefs throw in the middle of the field the rest of the game.
It worked cause of personnel on defense in the bowl. When Dre went down the d struggled hard, and Wilks has been awful on third all year. He left the middle of the field wide open when it mattered most.
Sometimes a head has to be served up on a platter. This was one of those times. Wilkes is a good man and a good coach. I hope he lands on his feet in a good spot.
Wasnt Wilks or defense that
Fumbled the ball (McCaffrey)
Missed an extra point (Moody)
Couldnt score off an interception (Purdy, Offense). Did they score after Pacheco fumbled the ball? I don’t remember if they did or didnt but wasn’t defense fault if they didnt.
Don’t forget the fumble on the punt either
Especially after getting KC off the field on offense.
Don’t think he was fired based on one game. There were issues throughout the season.
Also, you could counter all those offensive miscues with plenty of defensive miscues: calling cover 0 in a nonsensical situation, the playcall on 4th and 1 in OT, leaving the middle of the field wide open for Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of all people in the 2nd half, etc.
What if it was the right playcall but the player(s) missed their assignment? We will never know but I dont think it’s that cut and dry as you make it out. A play caller only calls the play. It’s up to the players to execute. There’s blame to go all around especially the HC (who made this hiring). If there were issues throughout the season that’s on the HC. He had plenty of film on Wilks prior to the hiring. It’s not secret on who he is. Plus you need to lead during the season. Really tired of Shanny getting a pass. First SB it was “Brady is just too good” or it was “Dan Quinn”. Chiefs SB1 it was “Jimmy G” Now Chiefs 2 it was “Steve Wilks”. Be a leader and take some heat sometimes.
Wilks has been called out by the players and the fan base since training camp. He constantly gives 8 yard cushions for dbs, his cover 0 blitz against i think the rams was a pop Warner call. Warner had to call him on plays at times. This was happening whether they won or lost
Shanny deserves some blame, but it’s hard when everybody takes from your staff. This was the 3rd DC in 3 years. The other 2 were great, he also picked them
Shanahan needed a scapegoat and a head to roll and this was it. Ownership needs to start looking at HC
The niners have been in the nfc championship how many times since he’s been the coach? Kinda like Andy Reid with the iggles right?
@ firechief / Bingo! There always has to be a fall guy when expectations aren’t realized. Andy Reid has been a HC for 25 years and Shanahan foolishly thought he could outsmart him with dopey trick plays.
You do know those two things aren’t mutually exclusive right? Shanahan can call a horse crap game in the playoffs and Wilks can still have been a terrible fit and a bad playcaller this season. Besides, bad playcalling is bad playcalling regardless of execution. No player should be expected to execute a cover 0 correctly on a down and distance like the one Wilks called. It’s insane people think he was good this season. That defense regressed big time from where Ryans had them.
You do realize Shanahan had to burn a timeout cause Wilks made a terrible defensive call right? He’s been pretty bad all year. How did the niners have no sacks against the commies despite them being the most sacked all year
Haha, Niners shooting themselves in the foot. Love to see it.
Wilks was not a good fit, and it was obvious all year long. How is firing an ex-HC who didn’t live up to his potential shooting themselves in the foot? The only difference between this year and last years defense was the defensive coordinator, and Eilos couldn’t even hold Ryan’s jock strap.
He’s an Eagles fan. They’re still upset over Deebo calling them out for being soft
Remember Corey Clement had move receiving yards than Deebo in the Super Bowl. Deebo came up soft in the biggest game of the season.
42-19 lol and that was the end of you lmao Confidence murdered all in one game
LOL… no acknowledgement of how Deebo came up short. Good luck running end runs with that guy the rest of his career….
I don’t give a s*** what Deebo thinks. That loser is still salty about the past NFCCG.
Thats all on Shanny then. He made the hire. Saying he wasn’t a good fit isn’t on Wilks. Shanny should’ve known who he was getting. I’m tired of Shanny getting a pass. There was plenty to go on in regards to Wilks prior to this hire. Plenty.
I watched a fair few Niners games this season and never once did I say “man, that defense is underperforming”.
Then you’re slow. They had an all pro every level, and over half the starters are or were pro bowlers. They were awful against the run, and couldn’t get to the quarterback most of the time
You didn’t?? They were far and away the #1 defense last year and were exposed at various times throughout the season. You must have only watched them in wins.
The Buccanners could use him
They have an unorthodox set up over there
I thought Wilks did a good job in the Super Bowl, I thought he did a good job overall during the past season
Scapegoat
That’s what I’m saying too. Shanahan should be the one going.
Firing Shanahan would make no sense lol Wilks was a questionable fit for this team all year. The cover 0 calls were especially egregious. He’s a good DC eho should get a job elsewhere, but he deserved to be canned, 100%.
100%
Exactly. Based on their excuse he would’ve been fired even if they won? Doubt it.
Based on what? Maybe watch the game besides making stupid comments.
Oh I WaTcHed the super bowl incoming
He should’ve been fired regardless, yes. It’s not unprecedented to move on from an *assistant* coach after a championship season.
First of many moves that the boy wonder Shanahan will make instead of taking the blame… Second will be signing Cousins and blaming Purdy for not executing his offense correctly… The guy has blown 3 double digit leads in three Super Bowls and is always looking to throw the blame at others. Eventually he will be shown the door…
I don’t think you’re serious about Cousins but they can’t afford him either way. They have some tough decisions to make regarding their roster. 2024 Niners will have some turnover.
you realize he was HC for only two of those superbowls?
They are referring to 28-3 as he was the OC on ATL. That loss is on him too.
Probably goes beyond super bowl, packers, lions games. Loss to rams loss to ravens.
Pretty sure the Raven game was the offense turning the ball over 4 times.
I can’t understand why Jed York is giving Shanahan such a long leash. His poor leadership of the team has been going on for about 3 yrs now. He’s clearly losing that locker room. Not one player came out backing Shanahan after the loss it was quite the opposite actually.
I’ve never understood the Shanahan hype. His old man was great back in the day but I’ve just never gotten the hype surrounding Kyle. Every time I watch a 49ers game or pre game stuff it’s constant chatter from the analysts about what an incredible play caller he is. I say bull s$!t. He’s got all the talent in the world to work with in McCaffrey, Deebo, Aiyuk and Kittle but he couldn’t scheme up much offense when it counted.
Don’t believe the hype ya’ll.
He’s very good against mediocre to bad teams. When it’s high level football against an equal or better opponent, it does not go well.
Niners defense wore out on last two Chiefs drives. Mahomes is a magician. Niners were lucky in beating GB and Lions in playoffs as both of them could have easily won.
Look how Ravens embarrassed SF on Christmas night.
AFC is superior, teams like Bills, Ravens and Chiefs would handle SF. Even AFC North teams won 3 out of 4 over them.
The chiefs lost to the lions and the packers, but sure
AFC is garbage and always has been. The ravens and chiefs? Wouldn’t even be playoff teams in the NFC.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Only difference between this year and last was the DC which was better ?! Exactly see ya
Definitely the scapegoat after they realized that Wilks would not get a head coaching job to get them another comp pick. They’ve been gaming the system for a few years with minority coordinators and secondary coaches.
None of this makes sense.
You do realize he would have had to be there for 2 years before the 49ers could have received draft picks?
You don’t game the system when the rules apply to everybody.
Exactly she don’t even know wth she talking about. Study football. F,o,o,t,b,a,l,l then come back here!
If soft clowns want to make racist rules to reward teams for hiring incompetent coaches, can’t blame the teams that turn those coaches into draft picks per the racist rules.
Obviously, the Niners didn’t run this by Tony Romo. After all, Romo blathered for 3 hours about the genius of both Wilks and Spagnolo and their incredible abilities to “dial up” the perfect defensive approaches.
One of those guys got fired and the other got a contract extension. I guess Romo was 50% right. Typical Romo.
Yeah blame the DC for the loss. He will quickly find a new job.
Yup because he did a terrible job all year and should have been fired mid season! Tapp or Bullocks should have been interim DC and I bet we win the SB! Kinda funny how 3 super bowls and zero holding calls on the chiefs but yet have the most holding penalty’s in the regular season. I wish I could post a video of all the times Bosa Was literally being hugged! Mahomes is big money for the NFL and so it Taylor, I get it …
Shanahan should fire himself for blowing multiple 10+ point leads in the super bowls he’s coached in.
Nice lil scapegoat. Woulda been nice if whole team knew SB OT rules b4 overtime, was that Wilks fault too ?
Wilks wasn’t the “genius” who thought less CMC in the 2nd half was a strategy
2 super bowls and 4 NFC championships in 5 years but let’s fire shanny. Idiots! And Easily would have been a third Super Bowl if Glock13 didn’t get hurt against that soft ass eagles team. 42-19 friendly reminder as we crushed your year and confidence. Won 6 of 7 after we bludgeoned you!!!
Man can’t catch a break..cardinals clown show, panthers, and now this …
On SB DC gets extended and the other gets fired. Shanahan wets himself AGAIN in the SB and someone else loses their job. Sure, why not.
When it rains someone gets wet
Ehhh I don’t know. For the majority of the game, Mahomes looked lost and worse, panicked. Wilks had the Chiefs offense in the first half. No matter where you stand on Patrick Mahomes or Andy Reid, how long do you expect to keep an offense like that down? They took overtime to even break 20 points. If the other games that people are referencing-Packers, Rams, whatever-were so impactful, then why would this decision coms now, after all elements of that coaching staff failed?
It’s not like the 9ers got blown out. It was a close game. The turnovers, none of which had to do with Wilks, shifted momentum back and forth. How does San Fran improve from here? Bet on getting the right young genius, and then excusing any hiccups as a result of his youth, or grab another experienced coordinator that can be the next scapegoat when the offense fails to capitalize in obvious must-score scenarios? Look, this wasn’t an embarrassing loss, and if it was, it wasn’t on the defense. Shanahan doesn’t need to fired for this (nobody does, in my opinion, though I think that Shanahan called a very bad game in the second half), but if it were between he and Wilks based on one game…well, it wasn’t Wilks.
Seems to me that this is a Scape-goat situation. The 49ers were COMPLETELY shutting down the Chiefs in the 1st half. Seems that things went sideways when Greenlaw got hurt. That’s when all the room in the middle opened up and Kelce started actually playing rather than pushing around Andy Reid. And Shanahan’s play calling SUCKED in the 2nd half. Straight up scape goat IMO.
Fall guy
Shanahan once again blows a big game perhaps giving McC a few 3rd quarter carries. perhaps kicking off in ot. perhaps going for it on 4th down in ot instead of putting up 3. offense not blocking Jones on 3rd down near end zone but yeah let’s fire Wilkes 49ers won’t win with Shanahan
Always have a fall guy.
Steve Wilks can’t catch a break anywhere.
Didnt the dude who replaced Greenlaw end up giving up like 9 receptions for 100+ yds and a TD tho??
If Wilks doesn’t work well with Shanahan the time to get rid of him is before it becomes a NY Giant-type of situation.
Panic and diversionary move by Shanahan to take the spotlight off his 3rd Super Bowl implosion.
it must be Wilkes because my blocking schemes allow Jones to come into Purdys face untouched with game on the line lmao
Just watched the Bills documentary on Netflix about the 4 failed superbowl trips. I think Shanahan is trying to upstage the Bills and personally going for 5. It might explain some of his decisions
Typical Shanahan move. The unspoken reality quota and actual hiring policy for NFL coaching staffs is a joke. Much the same reasons the Mannings have been anointed NFL gods and people like Orlovsky, Esiason, Simms, Gronk, Bruschi, McAfee, etc. have their jobs. Along with half of the NFL backup QB’s.
SF stalled & kicked a FG in OT. KC was going to score a TD unless there was a turnover. Against ANY team, ANY DC. Firing Wilks is a scapegoat move.
Shouldn’t Kyle have noticed the two differences didn’t align I this first place?♂️♂️♂️♂️
Steve wilks you are the new contestant get outt Kyle free cae
Fired the wrong coach