Not long after they suffered a painful 25-22 overtime loss at Super Bowl 58 versus Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers decided that it was time to let defensive coordinator Steve Wilks go. Wilks was fired three days after the Niners’ Las Vegas debacle, with head coach Kyle Shanahan admitting the difficult process of the said dismissal.
Via Tim Kawakami of The Athletic:
“Yes, that was the hardest part,” Shanahan said on a hastily convened conference call Wednesday. “I knew that was the challenge. It was tough. But it’s real tough losing DeMeco. It was tough losing Saleh (two years) before. But we’ve committed not just to this system but the players that have been in our system, from our D-line, our linebackers. Played in it for such a long time. It was my goal not to have to change all of them. And bringing in Steve, who was unbelievable in 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 what I had to.”
The Super Bowl 58 Fallout For The San Francisco 49ers Include The Firing Of Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks
It all boiled down to fit for Wilks and the San Francisco 49ers. It seems that it was a long time coming that Wilks would be fired by the Niners because the team did not see their defensive philosophy aligning with Wilks’ capabilities. The question, though, is would the Niners still would have decided to hand Wilks his walking papers if they defeated the Chiefs in Vegas.
Wilks was hired by the 49ers in 2023 as defensive coordinator after his stint with the Carolina Panthers in 2022. During his tenure in San Francisco, the 49ers ranked fourth in the league with 18.8 points allowed per game and ninth with a little under 320 total yards surrendered per outing.
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