It seems Brian Kelly will have a spot to replace on his newly minted coaching staff.
According to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, recently hired graduate assistant Asauni Rufus will join the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff as a defensive quality control coach.
Rufus has previously worked as an assistant coach at Nevada, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, working as an analyst and in quality control.
He played college football at Nevada, where he was a standout defensive back for four years from 2015-18. In his first season, Rufus became the first freshman in Wolf Pack history to have a 100-tackle season since 1994. In four years at Nevada, Rufus compiled 340 tackles and three interceptions and was an all-conference honorable mention in three of his four years with the Wolf Pack.
SOURCE: LSU defensive GA Asauni Rufus is expected to join the San Francisco 49ers staff as a defensive QC. The three-time All-Mountain West DB at Nevada has been on the staffs at his alma mater and then Notre Dame. He was a defensive QC at Vandy last year.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 27, 2022
After Rufus’s four years at Nevada, he went right into coaching in 2019 at Nevada as a special teams analyst. But after his first game, the Fighting Irish hired Rufus for the same position. In 2021, Rufus joined Vanderbilt’s staff as a quality control assistant before moving to LSU during the offseason.
Rufus will join a 49ers team that finished one win short of the Super Bowl last season. He will help one of the top defenses in the league, which has a lot of key players returning next season. The young, rising coach will have an opportunity to make a name for himself in the NFL ranks.
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