49ers hire Nick Sorensen as new defensive coordinator and Brandon Staley to prominent role
The San Francisco 49ers have their new defensive coordinator, and have also hired an experienced coach who figures to be a significant guiding hand. ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler reported the 49ers are hiring their defensive passing game specialist/nickels coach Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator, replacing Steve Wilks, who was fired after […]
The San Francisco 49ers have their new defensive coordinator, and have also hired an experienced coach who figures to be a significant guiding hand.
ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler reported the 49ers are hiring their defensive passing game specialist/nickels coach Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator, replacing Steve Wilks, who was fired after the Niners' Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
However, they are also hiring former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley to a prominent role, likely assistant head coach.
Staley was fired after a 5-9 start to the 2023 season by the Chargers and his tenure was defined by questionable game management decisions and Los Angeles' playoff collapse against the Jacksonville Jaguars in January 2023.
But prior to that he had developed a reputation as an outstanding defensive mind, and led a Los Angeles Rams defense that was first in points and yards in 2020.
His expertise will likely be key in helping Sorensen, who has never called plays but has been in the coaching ranks since 2013 and has extensive knowledge of the defense the Niners run.
He 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 scheme originates.
The 49er defense has evolved away from simply being a Cover 3 heavy unit, but Sorensen should be well-versed in all areas of it given the different roles he has held in his two years with San Francisco.
He took Johnny Holland’s place in coaching the linebackers at times during the 2022 campaign, during which he had the title of defensive assistant, when Holland was away for treatment on his health issues.
Sorensen ascended to defensive passing game specialist/nickels coach for 2023 and, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic, ran the team’s weekly takeaway meetings, labeled ‘the ball’.
That quick promotion showed how highly the Niners think of him, and their opinion has clearly only improved, with Sorensen now trusted to run the entire defense, albeit with Staley seemingly providing substantial help in doing so.
