ESPN analyst goes off on 49ers over call to part ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks
The San Francisco 49ers wasted no time in making a notable move following their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58. The 49ers announced on Wednesday that they parted ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. It was a mere year ago that the 49ers brought in Wilks to replace DeMeco Ryans, who […]
The San Francisco 49ers wasted no time in making a notable move following their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58.
The 49ers announced on Wednesday that they parted ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. It was a mere year ago that the 49ers brought in Wilks to replace DeMeco Ryans, who left the organization to become the Houston Texans’ new head coach.
The 49ers’ call to move on from Wilks has garnered much outside criticism, including from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. During an airing of ESPN’s "First Take" program on Thursday, Smith took some time to come to the defense of Wilks’ one-season run as 49ers defensive coordinator.
"I'm disgusted, and my heart goes out to my brother Steve Wilks because he keeps getting screwed over, time and time and time again, Arizona, Carolina, here he is in San Francisco," Smith said. "You're there for your first year, one year, you have the top three-ranked defense in the National Football League.
"Okay, then you get to the postseason, and I get the struggles. He was going against Jordan Love, he was going up against the Detroit Lions team that's loaded offensively, and they came back from a huge deficit and won that NFC Championship Game, and even though Patrick Mahomes went down the field, game-tying field goal, overtime game-winning touchdown, I think San Francisco's defense played pretty well."
The 49ers ranked in the top five in multiple defensive stats in the regular season, including in points per game allowed (17.5). The script flipped for San Francisco’s defense in the postseason, as the unit allowed a 25.7 points per game mark.
The 49ers are now on the lookout for a new defensive coordinator for the second straight offseason.
