Following their overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 Super Bowl, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan decided to relieve Steve Wilks of his duties as defensive coordinator.
Wilks, who served as interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2022, spent only one season at the helm of the defense in the Bay area. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shanahan explained why he decided to move on from Wilks.
“I’ve been sleeping on this for a few nights and trying to come up with a few tough decisions, but this morning, I relieved Steve Wilks of his duties,” Shanahan said, via 49erswebzone.com. “A really tough decision because it really says nothing about Steve as a man or as a football coach. He’s exactly what we wanted as a man. He is a great football coach. But just where we’re going and where we’re at with our team from a scheme standpoint and things like that, looking through it all throughout the year, through these last few days, I felt pretty strongly that this was a decision that was best for our organization.“
The 49ers were one of the best defenses in 2023, but DeMeco Ryans set the bar too high in 2022, before being hired by the Houston Texans. While the Niners were the NFL team that allowed the least points and yards last year, they dropped to third in points allowed and eighth in yards allowed under Wilks.
“Even though it was one I didn’t want to make, it was something that once I realized that I think a different direction is what’s best for our organization, then it’s something that I have to do,” Shanahan added. “So let him know this morning, and I know I wasn’t able to let you guys know yesterday because I wasn’t sure about it yesterday. But I am now, and that’s the case, and I wanted to let you guys know firsthand.”
49ers’ defense steps up in Super Bowl, but it’s not enough
While the Niners were not as dominant defensively as in 2022, they were still quite strong throughout the 2023 regular season. That helped them clinch the first seed in the NFC ahead of the playoffs, but their defensive work declined in the postseason.
San Francisco allowed 21 points against the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round, before conceding 31 against the Detroit Lions in a hard-fought victory in the NFC Championship Game.
The defense stepped up in the Super Bowl, doing a great job by holding Patrick Mahomes‘ offense for much of the game. Until the Chiefs quarterback came up with a moment of magic in overtime to lead a fantastic, game-winning drive.
Teams that fall short from the ultimate goal tend to look at what went wrong, and in this case, Wilks seemed to pay the price for the Super Bowl loss.
