National Football League

Why did 49ers fire DC Steve Wilks? Here's what we know

Published Feb. 15, 2024 11:18 a.m. ET

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Eric Williams

NFC West Writer

Kyle Shanahan wasted little time moving on from his team's disappointing Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Three days after dropping to 0-2 in Super Bowls — and on the day the Chiefs celebrated their victory with a parade in Kansas City — San Francisco's head coach announced to reporters that he fired Steve Wilks as the team's defensive coordinator.

The interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2022, Wilks served just one season in that role for San Francisco, replacing DeMeco Ryans after he took the Houston Texans head coaching job.

When asked about Wilks on Tuesday, Shanahan remained noncommittal about the return of his coaching staff for the 2024 season, but later said he expected all to return. However, Shanahan held a conference call on Wednesday to inform reporters that Wilks is moving on, citing he was not the right fit for what San Francisco wanted to do on defense.

"It was a really tough decision," Shanahan told reporters. "It says nothing about Steve as a man or a football coach. He was exactly what we wanted as a man. He's a great football coach.

"But just where we are and where we are going as football team from a scheme standpoint and things like it, looking through it all throughout the year and these last few days, I felt pretty strongly this was what was best for our organization."

Shanahan also announced Anthony Lynn, James Cregg, Klint Kubiak and Darryl Tapp will work elsewhere. Lynn (run game coordinator) and Tapp (defensive line coach) are headed to the Washington Commanders, while Cregg (offensive line coach) will join the Las Vegas Raiders and Kubiak (offensive coordinator) the New Orleans Saints. 

Wednesday was the end of a turbulent season for Shanahan and Wilks. Shanahan openly questioned Wilks calling an all-out blitz late in the first half of his team's loss to the Minnesota Vikings that resulted in a touchdown by rookie receiver Jordan Addison. He also forced Wilks to move from the coaches' booth down to the field to call plays from the sideline during the team's bye week.

After the Super Bowl loss, defensive end Nick Bosa questioned if San Francisco's defense was ready for Kansas City's designed running plays.

Kyle Shanahan on Steve Wilks' zero-blitz call vs. Vikings: 'He knows he missed up'

Bosa's words appeared to be the final straw for Shanahan, who moved quickly to dismiss Wilks, stating the organization will look at internal and external candidates.

Led by Wilks, the 49ers were mostly successful statistically on that side of the ball, finishing third in points allowed per game (17.5), tied for fifth in takeaways (28) and eighth in total yards allowed per game (303.9). 

However, the 49ers allowed 149.3 rushing yards per contest during the postseason and a 50 percent conversion rate on third down. 

There also appeared to be a disconnect between Wilks and Shanahan in the first year of those two working together, which led to a parting of ways at the end of the season.

Potential replacements on the open market include former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, former New York Giants and current Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and longtime NFL defensive guru Rex Ryan. 

While Shanahan said he'll remain open-minded about bringing in a new defensive coordinator and potentially a new scheme, he would also like the new hire to retain some of the same defensive concepts in place because they have worked over the years for San Francisco's defense. 

"I'll look into every possibility," Shanahan said. "But when you have some good players who have played at a high level and done it a certain way, I'm not just trying to change that. I'll lean towards trying to get them to do similar stuff that they've got very good at that's got us very far.

"But I've got to make sure I find the right person that's capable in leading our group in the right way, that's the standard in how we've done it and the believe that we will continue to get better at it." 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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