The San Francisco 49ers suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII. The Niners defense allowed a touchdown in the extra period en route to a 22-25 loss.
Less than 72 hours after the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan decided to make a change. First-year defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was relieved of his duties Wednesday, Shanahan announced.
“This morning I relieved Steve Wilks of his duties,” Shanahan said on a conference call.
“[We’re] I'm going to end up making a change here as defensive coordinator. A really difficult decision, because [it] It doesn't really say anything about Steve as a man or as a football coach. I mean, it's exactly what we wanted as a man. He's a great football coach.”
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San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks walks onto the field during the team's innings before Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)
Shannhan suggested that the 49ers defense needed a change in philosophy and that bringing in a new coordinator would ultimately be best for the team moving forward.
“But where we're going and where we are with our team from a scheme standpoint and things like that, looking back at the whole year up until these last few days, I felt pretty strongly that this was a decision that was best for the organization.”
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Earlier in the week, Shanahan mostly avoided directly answering questions about whether Wilks would be retained for a second season. Instead, he offered a general statement about the coaching staff.
“I haven't talked to anyone yet,” he responded to a follow-up question about Wilks' future as the Niners' defensive coordinator. “So yeah, I hope all of our coaches come back.”
Wilks was presumably included in that coaching group, but on Wednesday Shanahan concluded he needed to go in “a different direction.”
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on the sidelines during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levis Stadium on January 7, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. (Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
The 49ers roster is full of star players on the defensive side of the ball, which likely meant Wilks was taking on a job where he would be required to meet high expectations.
The Niners had an up-and-down 2023 season, following a mostly dominant 2022 campaign under DeMeco Ryans. Ryans left San Francisco in January 2023 to take over as head coach of the Texans. However, the 49ers finished in the top three in points allowed last season.
Wilks' unit had multiple disappointing moments in the postseason, especially when it came to defending the run. The Packers, Lions and Chiefs average 5.1 yards per carry in the playoffs in games against the Niners. Shanahan took charge of some of the issues and admitted that he wanted Wilks to execute the same plan that Ryans and Robert Saleh had previously done.
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks with the defensive line on the sideline during the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on December 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
“I knew it was a challenge,” Shanahan acknowledged. “It was really difficult to lose DeMeco. It was difficult to lose Saleh the year before. We had committed not only to the system, but also to the players who had been in the system, from our defensive line or linebackers. They had played in it for a long time. a long time.
“My goal was to not have to change all of them, and to bring in Steve, who was amazing how loyal he was and he was trying to do it, but he ended up not being the right fit. And it hurt me to do this, but that's exactly why I had to do it”.
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Shanahan hopes the next coordinator will already be familiar with the scheme and have the ability to mesh the defensive front with the secondary.
“You want to bring things together and Steve was always working to do that,” Shanahan said. “There's no doubt about that. But it was just because of his background and how he ended up with us, it was harder than it needed to be and I felt like it would get better if we went in a different direction.”
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