The San Francisco 49ers have relieved defensive coordinator Steve Wilks of his duties just seventy-two hours after their heartbreaking 25-22 loss at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday night and a little over a year after he was hired.
“It just ended up being not the right fit,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during a Wednesday press conference with reporters.
“We felt pretty strongly that this was the decision that was best for our organization,” Shanahan added. “Even though it was one I didn’t want to make, it was something that once I realized that a different direction was what’s best for our organization, it’s something that I have to do.”
The surprising move comes after Shanahan said Tuesday he expected all of his coaches to be back for the 2024 campaign. He also gave kudos to Wilks for his tireless hard work with the defense this past season, which experienced highs and lows.
“I thought they’re one of the reasons that we got this far,” Shanahan said Monday. “I thought they did a number of good things. They did a lot of good things in that game [Super Bowl LVIII], too. Just like our whole team. Our team did a bunch of good things this year but came up short in the last game.”
How the Super Bowl concluded on Sunday has brought criticism and scrutiny to the doorstep of Wilks and how the 49ers’ defense played. Defensive end Nick Bosa said the unit “could’ve been more prepared” for zone-read plays that Patrick Mahomes successfully executed on short-yardage situations in the waning moments of the game.
“You kind of have to anticipate Mahomes wanting to have the ball in his hands,” Bosa said. “We played plenty of read-option teams, so we have the answers for it. But it’s tough when you play a team like that, that can beat you in all kinds of different ways. It ended up being very big few moments where they did pull it out. We’ll learn from it.”
Embed from Getty ImagesShanahan threw Wilks under the bus saying a timeout he was forced to burn with 2:48 left in overtime, was due to a defensive call he did not like from Wilks.
“Yeah, I didn’t like the look [the defense was] in and some of our players looked a little gassed,” said Shanahan, who previously moved Wilks from upstairs in the booth to the field during a three-game skid in October when some of their stars were injured.
The 49ers hired Wilks on February 9, 2023, right after former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans took the head coaching job with the Houston Texans. Wilks job was to oversee the defense after he spent the 2022 season as the Carolina Panthers’ defensive assistant and later interim head coach following Matt Rhule’s dismissal.
As stated previously, in Wilks’ lone season with the Niners, the defense had its share of ups and downs. A unit that led the NFL in multiple categories in 2022 under Ryans, including fewest points per game allowed (16.3) and defensive expected points added (89.58), took a step back, especially in the playoffs in 2023.
The 49ers still finished third in points allowed (17.5) this season, but they were ninth in defensive EPA (41.48) and sprung significant leaks against the run in the playoffs, allowing the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs to average 5.1 yards per carry and 149.3 yards per game in the postseason.
Shanahan took full responsibility on his shoulders for some of those lapses, saying he wanted Wilks to implement the same system and strategy that had previously been in place with Ryans and Robert Saleh before him.
“I knew that was a challenge,” Shanahan said. “It was real tough losing DeMeco. It was tough losing Saleh the year before. We had committed to not just the system, but the players that had been in the system, from our D-line or linebackers. They had played in it for such a long time.”
“It was my goal to not have to change all of them, and bringing in Steve, who was unbelievable how loyal he was and him trying to do it, but it just ended up not being the right fit. And it hurt for me to do this, but that’s exactly why I had to.”
