After just 1 year as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, Steve Wilks is fired.
“Today, I relieved Steve Wilks of his duties,” the 49ers manager Kyle Shanahan shared in a conference call today that was scheduled just moments before it happened. “We want to make a change here at defensive coordinator. It’s not an easy decision because [it] really says nothing about Wilks as a man or as a football coach. Steve is exactly what we think as a man, and he is also an elite football coach.
Steve Wilks is the scapegoat for the #49ers…
The Niners defense played very well in the Super Bowl. Held Patrick Mahomes and the #Chiefs to under 20 points heading into OT. It wasn’t the defense’s fault that a punt was muffed, that CMC fumbled, and that the Niners couldn’t… pic.twitter.com/ERhfIWKu4m
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) February 15, 2024
“But our strategy for the franchise’s future from a scheme standpoint and things like that, we decided after analyzing in the past few days.”
The San Francisco’s head coach refused to answer yesterday if Steve would keep his job as defensive coordinator for a 2nd campaign. Only 24 hours later, Shanahan made the decision to make a change in his staff for the upcoming season.