The San Francisco 49ers have fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks three days after they lost Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs and a little over a year after he was hired.
“It just ended up being not the right fit,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during a Wednesday news conference.
“We felt pretty strongly that this was the decision that was best for our organization,” Shanahan added. “Even though it was one I didn’t want to make, it was something that once I realized that a different direction was what’s best for our organization, it’s something that I have to do.”
The move comes after Shanahan said Tuesday he expected all of his coaches to return for the 2024 season. He also praised Wilks’ work with the defense this past season, which had up and down results.
“I thought they’re one of the reasons that we got this far,” Shanahan said Monday. “I thought they did a number of good things.
They did a lot of good things in that game [Super Bowl LVIII], too. Just like our whole team. Our team did a bunch of good things this year but came up short in the last game.”
