Steve Wilks fired as 49ers defensive coordinator after one season: 'It just ended up being not the right fit'

oaken1

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expected that. I got a good laugh when shanny called a timeout and made Steve change his defensive call.

But if im being honest he did much better in the super bowl than I expected.

its tough, because the niners are so loaded with defensive talent you gotta think most anybody could be successful with that group... but then you got andy reid across the field from you...and he has made lots of good coaches look like rookies over the years
 

gimpy

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expected that. I got a good laugh when shanny called a timeout and made Steve change his defensive call.

But if im being honest he did much better in the super bowl than I expected.

its tough, because the niners are so loaded with defensive talent you gotta think most anybody could be successful with that group... but then you got andy reid across the field from you...and he has made lots of good coaches look like rookies over the years
Well, Andy Reid, and, Patrick Mahomes.
 

HairZach

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expected that. I got a good laugh when shanny called a timeout and made Steve change his defensive call.

But if im being honest he did much better in the super bowl than I expected.

its tough, because the niners are so loaded with defensive talent you gotta think most anybody could be successful with that group... but then you got andy reid across the field from you...and he has made lots of good coaches look like rookies over the years

I think this might be similar to the Packers' situation. Joe Berry's defense with the Packers was awful most of the year, then noticeably got better the last few games. After Joe got fired it was revealed that the improvement happened after Lefleur took a bigger part in the defensive game planning.

There were reports Shanahan had forced Wilks to adopt DeMeco's system and that he had to correct some of Wilks tendencies throughout the season. Shanahan may have felt like he had to micromanage Wilks.
 

BritCard

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Seems like scapegoating to me. I thought Wilks did well.

They didn't lose the Superbowl because of defense, they lost because they muffed a punt.

They had the number 4 ranked defense per DVOA, and while they were number 1 last year they were 5th the year before under Ryans and 7th the year before that under Saleh.
 

TRW

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Exactly. Does he file multiple lawsuits or just keep adding to one large one?
He can piggyback it onto the suit he piggybacked on, the Flores lawsuit. But, I doubt he will. There were signs that he was not in tune with the HC during the season. This just is a case of employer/employee not meshing personality wise IMO.

Really nothing to see here, again IMO.
 

Brian in Mesa

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He can piggyback it onto the suit he piggybacked on, the Flores lawsuit. But, I doubt he will. There were signs that he was not in tune with the HC during the season. This just is a case of employer/employee not meshing personality wise IMO.

Really nothing to see here, again IMO.
No different than us firing him after seeing what he did in one full season as our head coach, IMHO. It was clear he was not the long-term answer, so why run him back the next season?
 

JohnnyCakes

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Seems like scapegoating to me. I thought Wilks did well.

They didn't lose the Superbowl because of defense, they lost because they muffed a punt.

They had the number 4 ranked defense per DVOA, and while they were number 1 last year they were 5th the year before under Ryans and 7th the year before that under Saleh.
you can fired for other reason besides performance. He could be difficult to work with and/or insubordinate
 

daves

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Seems like scapegoating to me. I thought Wilks did well.

They didn't lose the Superbowl because of defense, they lost because they muffed a punt.

They had the number 4 ranked defense per DVOA, and while they were number 1 last year they were 5th the year before under Ryans and 7th the year before that under Saleh.
I quoted from The Athletic in the Black Monday thread:
The 49ers simply regressed too much defensively under Wilks. They’d ranked No. 1 EPA per play in 2022 under Ryans before dropping to No. 12 this season. Their run defense took the most severe tumble, from No. 2 to No. 26. This wasn’t acceptable to Shanahan, especially since the 49ers maintained most of their key personnel between seasons and even added star defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.
Plus, they added Chase Young. That's a big statistical drop, and even moreso, I think it was just a matter of Wilks & Shanahan not being on the same page / communicating well (cf. Shanahan ordering Wilks out of the booth and into the sideline around mid season) and Wilks' defensive philosophy and coaching skills not fitting in with the 49ers' personnel.
 

Redsz

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He can piggyback it onto the suit he piggybacked on, the Flores lawsuit. But, I doubt he will. There were signs that he was not in tune with the HC during the season. This just is a case of employer/employee not meshing personality wise IMO.

Really nothing to see here, again IMO.
Seems to happen alot to Wilks. There is a pattern emerging here.
 

Cheesebeef

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I quoted from The Athletic in the Black Monday thread:

Plus, they added Chase Young. That's a big statistical drop, and even moreso, I think it was just a matter of Wilks & Shanahan not being on the same page / communicating well (cf. Shanahan ordering Wilks out of the booth and into the sideline around mid season) and Wilks' defensive philosophy and coaching skills not fitting in with the 49ers' personnel.
yeah... that defense should have been an ALL-TIME level squad with the talent they had on it and in both of our games, I didn't come out super impressed.
 

Covert Rain

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Seems to happen alot to Wilks. There is a pattern emerging here.
At one point they showed Shanahan pacing the sidelines POd and yelling into his headset. I wonder if that was at Wilks.
 

mjb21aztd

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