The San Francisco 49ers have made a major coaching change after their heartbreaking overtime loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 2024.
Steve Wilks has been fired as the 49ers defensive coordinator, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced on a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
Wilks, 54, lasted just one season in San Francisco after he was an interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers last season. Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018.
Shanahan told reporters he’s looking for a coordinator whose scheme better fits the players on the 49ers roster.
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“We felt pretty strongly that this was the decision that was best for our organization,” Shanahan said. “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.”
After holding the Chiefs to three points in the first half, the 49ers gave up 16 points in the second half of Super Bowl 2024 and surrendered a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Patrick Mahomes throwing a game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman in overtime.
Wilks, who had replaced DeMeco Ryans after the Houston Texans hired Ryans as their head coach last year, was only able to make tweaks to the 49ers’ existing defensive system Shanahan has been partial to.
“That was the hardest part. I knew that was a challenge,” Shanahan said. “We have committed to not just a system, but the players that have been in the system from our D-line, our linebackers, they played in it for such a long time. It was my goal to not have to change all of them and bring in Steve who was unbelievable and 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 why I had to.”
— With AP
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