Evaluating the internal options for the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator vacancy
The San Francisco 49ers have still yet to hire a defensive coordinator following the firing of Steve Wilks in the wake of their Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs. There has been precious little noise about Wilks’ potential replacement, save for an update from Mike Silver of The San Francisco Chronicle that […]
The San Francisco 49ers have still yet to hire a defensive coordinator following the firing of Steve Wilks in the wake of their Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
There has been precious little noise about Wilks’ potential replacement, save for an update from Mike Silver of The San Francisco Chronicle that indicated those in NFL coaching circles believe head coach Kyle Shanahan is leaning towards an internal hire.
With Wilks coming from outside of the 49ers’ system, an internal hire would represent San Francisco playing it safe and reverting to type by hiring a coach who has spent significant time in the system.
The Niners are likely looking for a coach who can ensure that there is a connectivity between the front and the back of the defense, San Francisco’s defense having appeared disjointed at times during the 2023 regular season. The front then had significant issues against the run in the playoffs.
But do the 49ers have such a coach on staff? Here I break down the four coaches in the building likely under consideration and the likelihood of them becoming the defensive coordinator.
Daniel Bullocks
A former safety with the Detroit Lions, Bullocks has coached defensive backs in the NFL since 2016, starting as an assistant defensive backs coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016 following spells in college with Northern Iowa and Eastern Michigan.
He was hired as the assistant defensive backs coach for the 49ers in 2017, he was then promoted to safeties coach in 2019 before becoming the defensive backs coach in 2023.
Given the emphasis on what went wrong with the front towards the end of Wilks’ only season, perhaps the fact Bullocks’ experience is solely as a secondary coach may count against him, but safety Tashaun Gipson, per Jose Luis Sanchez of SI.com, gave him a ringing endorsement before the Super Bowl.
"I don't think D.B. gets enough credit," said Gipson. "He was probably the reason why I came here. He's probably one of the best coaches, if not the best defensive backs coach I've been around in my career and I've been around for a minute.
"I'm so thankful that I've had him. What he's done for this room. He's just been doing some things for us on the back end that's just been huge for me and I'm happy that he's my coach."
The lowdown: Bullocks would certainly have support in the building from players, as Charvarius Ward also spoke highly of him prior to the Super Bowl, but it’s tough to picture the 49ers hiring a coach who hasn’t worked outside of the secondary given the issue concerning the front and the linebackers at different points of the 2023 season.
Johnny Holland
The 49ers’ stalwart linebackers coach has been in coaching since 1995 but has predominantly held the same job throughout, coaching the position he played with distinction for the Green Bay Packers.
He was a run game specialist for the 49ers from 2018 to 2020. With San Francisco struggling mightily in that area down the stretch, his experience in that sense could appeal.
Holland would also be an extremely popular choice in the locker room, especially with a linebacker group that adores him. But Holland is also living with multiple myeloma and has previously had to leave the team because of his treatments.
He is an extremely important part of the 49ers’ defensive set-up, but a promotion at this point in his career with his health issues appears a long shot.
The lowdown: Having worked for so long with the team’s emotional leaders on defense, there’s reason to believe promoting Holland could make a great deal of sense. The question is whether it makes sense for him given the much more important battle he has away from football.
Nick Sorensen
Sorensen is not a well-known member of the coaching staff but, of the internal options, he is probably the man best suited to ascending to the role of coordinator.
Another former safety, Sorensen spent the first eight seasons of his coaching career with the Seattle Seahawks, first working with the special teams before becoming assistant defensive backs coach and then secondary coach. That experience gave him a first-hand and in-depth education of the Pete Carroll defense from which the San Francisco defense originates.
The 49er defense has evolved away from simply being a Cover 3 heavy unit, but Sorensen will having an extremely strong knowledge of it given the different roles he has held in his two years with San Francisco.
He took Holland’s place in coaching the linebackers at times during the 2022 campaign, during which he had the title of defensive assistant. Sorensen ascended to defensive passing game specialist/nickels coach for 2023, with that quick promotion indicative of how highly they think of him. Sorensen, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic, runs the team’s weekly takeaway meetings, labeled ‘the ball’.
The lowdown: Of all the coaches on the defensive staff, Sorensen has amassed the most varied experience over the course of his two years. It would be an extremely quick rise, but he is a coach who had a great apprenticeship in Seattle and may well be uniquely equipped to ensure a defense that — for all its well-documented struggles late in the 2023 season — still resides in the upper echelon of the league, is better connected and in a better position to succeed in 2024.
Kris Kocurek
It was clear from his comments after the season that star pass rusher Nick Bosa wasn’t exactly thrilled with what happened to the defense under Wilks’ stewardship.
“I think he does a great job with the back end,” Bosa told reporters of Wilks as the Niners departed for the offseason. “Obviously, we had some issues this year throughout the year. But that’s part of playing a full season — and I think we were playing our best ball at the end.”
So how best to appease your best defensive player? Promote his defensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
Kocurek has earned a reputation as one of the foremost D-Line coaches in the league. Leadership and connecting with players would likely not be an issue. Attend a 49ers practice, and it’s probable you’ll hear Kocurek before you see him, and his players respond to his extremely vocal and intense style.
But coaching defensive line is all Kocurek has known since progressing from his early days as a graduate assistant at the college level. There were clear strides made by several players in the secondary under Wilks, would the 49ers want to risk sacrificing their development by hiring a coach who has only ever dealt with the front? Perhaps even more pertinently, would Kocurek even want such a promotion?
The lowdown: Kocurek is the best in the business at what he does and excels at getting the best out of players in the trenches. It’s unclear whether that quality could translate to the rest of the defense, but it seems an unnecessary gamble to take Kocurek away from a job in which he thrives potentially at the risk of the development of the defensive line and the defense as a whole.
It's impossible to label any coach as 'the favorite' when there has been so little word about who the 49ers may potentially hire. However, if the 49ers want a coach with experience of the system and has experience working with several areas of the defense, Sorensen appears to be the standout internal candidate.
49ers’ defensive coordinator vacancy is a cloud hanging over offseason
There’s been radio silence.
