A year ago, Kyle Shanahan gave Steve Wilks a great opportunity that was also mostly unfair to him at the very same time. Both things. Built upon each other.
A great job because it was difficult enough that anyone who succeeded would be heralded as a great defensive mind and possibly delivered a head-coaching job at the next convenient moment. Difficult because it was loaded with great players, great resources, great responsibility and the greatest expectations.
Which is why it’s logical to say that Shanahan’s decision to fire Wilks as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator on Wednesday was two partially contradictory things at the same time — an extremely awkward moment of very public Super Bowl-loss scapegoating and also the logical conclusion of a failed year-long experiment.
It could’ve worked, if Wilks developed more chemistry with Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and the rest of the defense in the short time he had, but he didn’t. Wilks, who came up as a defensive secondary coach, was a bit more reserved and much more focused on the defensive backfield than they’re used to. And it became clearer every week that the 49ers’ top defensive players just didn’t fully believe in their DC.
It could’ve worked if Shanahan was willing to adjust some more, but he wasn’t. It could’ve worked if the 49ers’ defense was a little more focused and a lot less confused during the playoffs. But those distracted moments kept piling up through the Green Bay and Detroit games and then all the way into the last minutes against the Chiefs, when Shanahan at one point called timeout to get the 49ers out of a defensive call he hated and then another when linebacker Oren Burks pinballed around the formation, looking anxiously toward the sideline, before a critical third-down snap trying to figure out where he was supposed to line up. Patrick Mahomes quickly completed a pass for a first down on that play, of course.
And then, in his postgame session, Bosa flatly said that the defense was not prepared well enough to defend Mahomes running the ball on two back-breaking plays. Once Bosa said this, it was pretty clear that Wilks’ status was in serious jeopardy. Three days later, he was out of a job.
But I don’t know if anybody outside of the 49ers’ defensive hive mind could’ve avoided a firing at this point. I do know that Wilks, who wasn’t part of the 49ers’ culture when he was hired and never could find a way to merge with it, is now without a job. It’s a bad look to fire somebody with such a good reputation in the days after a failed Super Bowl. But if you believe Shanahan’s explanation on Wednesday, and I do, it’s not a scapegoating as much as an admission that Shanahan and John Lynch made a mistake when they hired Wilks in the first place.
It wasn’t his fault as much as it was theirs.
A mid-year move from the booth down to the sidelines paid dividends for Steve Wilks and the 49ers’ D, but renewed struggles in the playoffs led to Wednesday’s firing. (Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)
The 49ers simply have a very specific way of running their defense, which was initiated by Robert Saleh in his three DC years before moving on to the Jets’ top job and was elevated by DeMeco Ryans, previously the linebackers coach under Saleh, in his two DC years before he got his own top job in Houston.
The 49ers needed more of that. It was up to them to realize that Wilks wasn’t going to give it to them, and they realized it too late. But there’s context: The 49ers didn’t have a strong in-house candidate to replace Ryans last year and they couldn’t land Vic Fangio, who ended up with the Dolphins (and is now with the Eagles).
Shanahan and Lynch logically wanted to keep the same Seahawks-style Cover 3 scheme that fits their roster so well, but they also wanted an authoritative figure. Wilks had the authority, but no experience in the Seattle system. So the 49ers’ brass just hoped he’d pick up on the scheme. But it never happened. Wilks was always the outsider looking in.
“Yes, that was the hardest part,” Shanahan said on a hastily convened conference call Wednesday. “I knew that was the challenge. It was tough. But it’s real tough losing DeMeco. It was tough losing Saleh (two years) before. But we’ve committed not just to this system but the players that have been in our system, from our D-line, our linebackers. Played in it for such a long time. It was my goal not to have to change all of them. And bringing in Steve, who was unbelievable in how loyal he was and him trying to do it.
“But it just ended up not being the right fit. It hurt for me to do this, but that’s exactly what I had to.”
So what happens now? Shanahan said he’d take a look at both internal and external candidates, and it’s always tricky to figure out which coaches from other teams are interested or available at this late date in the hiring cycle. But I think there are a few things we can conclude from this entire experience:
• The 49ers’ defensive stalwarts are all in their front seven. Their DC should come with a background either on the defensive line or the linebacking unit. Wilks coached the linebackers and defensive linemen, but he just never seemed part of them.
“I don’t think that’s just solely because of his background with DBs,” Shanahan said. “I just think it has to do with the way we play linebacker and stuff like that. The way that Fred and Dre (Greenlaw) have done it here over the years and the way we’ve coached it. I mean, there’s no one way to do things. But you want to tie things together. And Steve was always working to do that, there’s no doubt about that. But it was just, for his background and how it ended up with us, it was harder than it needed to be. And felt it would improve if we’d go in a different direction.”
• Shanahan said he just wants the best DC possible and wouldn’t preclude looking for someone outside of the Seahawks’ defensive system, but it’s likely that the next DC will come from that coaching tree or will at least be closer to it than Wilks was.
• I don’t think highly regarded defensive line coach Kris Kocurek will be a live candidate. He’s extremely valuable (and well compensated) where he is and hasn’t ever seemed like a guy who is desperate to be a DC.
Defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks is an up-and-comer, but his secondary background might be a barrier this time around.
Defensive passing game specialist Nick Sorensen is an interesting name, but his background before joining the 49ers in 2022 is mainly in special teams.
• Though I think jumping up and down on the sideline is more of a TV bit than actual coaching, the 49ers’ players like energy from their DC. Saleh and Ryans provided it. Wilks did not. (Shanahan doesn’t either, by the way. But offensive coaches rarely are sideline attention-getters. They’ve got to be calling or thinking about the next play.) I think Shanahan will be looking for a positive-vibes guy with this hire.
That the 49ers had to ask Wilks to move down from the booth and get in personal contact with his players on the sidelines at midseason was a giant red flag, even after it worked.
• It doesn’t seem likely that the 49ers will chase after one of the very famous former head coaches with defensive backgrounds — Mike Vrabel, Brandon Staley, Ron Rivera or even Bill Belichick or Pete Carroll. That would set up even more of an Outsider dynamic, since those guys have done it their way for so long and, in Belichick and Carroll’s cases, haven’t been anything but head coaches for decades.
Saleh wasn’t a big name when he took over the 49ers’ defense, but he was a perfect fit alongside Shanahan and had known Shanahan for years. Ryans was a fairly inexperienced coach when he moved up to replace Saleh, but he was wholly part of the 49ers’ culture and just a natural leader and play caller. I don’t know if the perfect candidate is out there, but I don’t think it has to be a big name. It just has to be somebody who fits the culture and feels like an insider almost right away.
GO DEEPER
Dre Greenlaw’s injury encapsulated the anguish inside the 49ers’ locker room
(Photo of Wilks in December: Robin Alam / ISI Photos / Getty Images)