49ers' decision on their next special teams coordinator could be becoming clear after NFL insider makes prediction on hire
While it's long since been clear that the San Francisco 49ers are hopeful of bringing Robert Saleh back to be their defensive coordinator, there have been fewer signals around their plan at the special teams coordinator spot. The decision to fire Brian Schneider after the 49ers finished 31st in special teams DVOA in 2024 was […]
While it's long since been clear that the San Francisco 49ers are hopeful of bringing Robert Saleh back to be their defensive coordinator, there have been fewer signals around their plan at the special teams coordinator spot.
The decision to fire Brian Schneider after the 49ers finished 31st in special teams DVOA in 2024 was one of the first made by Kyle Shanahan in the wake of a hugely disappointing season.
Before The Athletic's Matt Barrows labeled Nick Sorensen, relieved of his duties as defensive coordinator after just one season, as the frontrunner for the job, not much had been said about the 49ers' likely direction of travel with a critical hire.
But in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Barrows' colleague Mike Silver, formerly a 49ers beat writer with The San Francisco Chronicle, offered a different prediction regarding the hire.
Silver wrote that he does not expect the Niners to hire Sorensen. While he did not add anything else to that information, his claim potentially gives away more about the identify of the 49ers' hire than it might seem at first glance.
The 49ers' three confirmed interviews for the position so far have been with Detroit Lions assistant special teams coordinator Jett Modkins, Denver Broncos assistant special teams coach Chris Banjo, and Chris Tabor, a widely respected coach who has excelled in the coordinator role at multiple spots.
Banjo has been available to be hired since Denver's defeat in the Wild Card Round. Tabor was not attached to a team in 2024, so could have been hired at any point.
The fact the Niners have not made the decision to hire either, combined with Silver's claim regarding Sorensen, would suggest Modkins is their man. San Francisco is now free to hire him following the Lions' surprise elimination in the Divisional Round.
If the 49ers have come to that conclusion, it should become apparent in the coming days. If no hire is made, then how a coordinator search that has been conducted with little transparency will end will be anyone's guess.
First major domino of head coach hiring cycle falls and puts 49ers’ preferred defensive coordinator hire in significant jeopardy
The chances of their plan backfiring have increased.
