Tag: Kyle Shanahan

Richard Sherman to 49ers: ‘That’s on you’ for not knowing overtime rules

However, Seahawks legend and former Niners cornerback Richard Sherman says it’s on the players.

The San Francisco 49ers imploded in their Super Bowl loss on Sunday night, blowing another 10-point lead against the Kansas City Chiefs, this time going down in overtime. While Patrick Mahomes is admittedly a notoriously tough out, one of the most enjoyable elements of the Niners’ collapse was how strange and self-inflicted the loss was.

They couldn’t do anything about Dre Greenlaw’s freak Achilles injury as he came off the sideline, but the 49ers beat themseles in several ways down the stretch. The worst of it may be that players were simply not aware of the new overtime rules. Most of the blame has been going towards head coach Kyle Shanahan for not making sure they know the score. However, Seahawks legend and former Niners cornerback Richard Sherman says it’s on the players.

Even better, San Francisco is now going through an assistant coach exodus, including another significant unforced error when Shanahan fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

The 49ers have dominated the NFC the last five seasons like no other team, but this week’s events have inspired hope their Super Bowl window may finally be starting to close.

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Kurt Warner talks about taking the ball vs. kicking to start overtime

The NFL’s overtime rules have changed (no, really) so that both teams are guaranteed a possession but debates about overtime strategy die hard.

The NFL’s overtime rules have changed (no, really) so that both teams are guaranteed a possession but debates about overtime strategy die hard. After the 49ers scored a field goal to open the extra period in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Chiefs responded with a game-winning touchdown drive enginnered by Patrick Mahomes. Now, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan is getting a lot of flak for not kicking to Kansas City to start overtime.

For some reason, let’s look to Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Here’s his take on kicking vs. taking the ball to start overtime from earlier this week when he was a guest on the Rich Eisen Show.

Shanahan has followed up the Super Bowl collapse by inexplicably firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who’s definitely worth a look if there’s room on Mike Macdonald’s staff.

More Seahawks Wire stories

Seahawks fans masterfully trolling this 49ers long snapper

Ranking the NFL’s top 32 QBs going into 2024 offseason

Washington is sending 13 prospects to scouting combine

Bill Belichick could be the perfect fit for 49ers’ defensive coordinator opening

With an opening at the defensive coordinator spot, could the 49ers target one of the greatest coaches of all time?

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It was a little surprising that the San Francisco moved on from well-respected and consistently good defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. It’s easy to point the finger at Wilks for the frustrations of the Super Bowl and make him a scapegoat when really there was so much more that went into the loss, but that’s another discussion. The 49ers now find themselves with a pretty big hole in their defensive coaching staff, one that is latent with potential to field the best defensive unit in 2024. Could the greatest coach of all time perhaps fill the role and set himself up for one heck of a rebound?

Former New England Patriots head coach and future hall of famer Bill Belichick might just be the coach that can help put this Super Bowl-losing team on the other side of the aisle, the one that comes with rings and a fancy trophy. Given the enormous amount of talent that San Francisco boasts on the defensive side of the ball with stars littered across every position, and Bill Belichicks history as a defensive mastermind, this might be a match made in heaven.

One position Belichick has always been enamored with is versatile linebackers. From the likes of Jerod Mayo (his replacement in New England ironically enough), Dont’a Hightower, Tedy Bruschi, Jamie Collins, etc etc. it’s clear that he gets the most out of versatile linebackers. The 49ers boast the best linebacking duo in the league behind the force that is Fred Warner and Drew Greenlaw, who could be the rock of a Belichick lead defense. On the defensive line it’s easy to see Belichick getting the most of the likes of Nick Bosa, Chase Young, and Arik Armstead. It’s almost scary to think of the amount of weapons you would be handing to the best defensive coach of a generation should he land in San Francisco.

The big question might be could Belichick slow down the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and the other super elite quarterbacks in the league. Though realistically there aren’t many defensive coaches who have been able to accomplish that outside of the defensive coordinator on the same team as Patrick Mahomes.

Nothing is certain when it comes to hirings but this seems like such a slam dunk hire and one that has to have crossed the minds of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. The only remaining question mark would be if Belichick himself would want to take the demotion and return to his roots as a defensive coordinator.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Super Bowl LVIII recap edition

Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar review Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers as only they can in this week’s “Xs and Os.”

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs have established themselves as the NFL’s nest dynasty with their 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, it’s time for Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, to review everything as only they can with copious tape study and advanced metrics.

Among the topics discussed in this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar”:

  • Steve Spagnuolo’s shocking man-blitz plan.
  • How Trent McDuffie made that deflection with 2:00 left in regulation.
  • Was Chris Jones robbed of a Super Bowl MVP award for the second time in four years?
  • Why Spags went so heavy with nickel, and Cover-0 stuff.
  • Why Brock Purdy wasn’t the reason the 49ers lost.
  • Was Dre Greenlaw’s injury a major factor in the game or not?
  • How were the Chiefs able to spot man coverage on Travis Kelce’s huge fourth-quarter catch?
  • How Patrick Mahomes showed his development as a quarterback at the most important points of his season…
  • …and why Mahomes’ biggest throw in the Super Bowl was the one he never should have attempted.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Seahawks fans are masterfully trolling this 49ers long snapper on Twitter

Now, their extremely online long snapper is busy tweeting through it.

The Seahawks missed out on the playoffs this year, but fans did get a pretty satisfying consolation prize at the end of the season. Their most bitter rivals, the 49ers advanced all the way to the Super Bowl only to blow a 10-point lead to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs again and lose in overtime. For an encore, head coach Kyle Shanahan has fired their defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who was the only assistant who actually did his job well the whole season, including the Super Bowl.

The meltdown even extends to their special teams unit, which got destroyed by Kansas City on Sunday night. Now, their extremely online long snapper is busy tweeting through it. Earlier this week he shared this sad post complaining about Seahawks fans talking trash to him, taking a swipe at Eagles fans along the way.

We’ll give you three guesses for what happened next, but odds are you’re only going to need one. Seattle, Philly and other random fans around the NFL are rallying to dunk on Pepper in his mentions. Here are some of our favorite replies.

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Former Panthers DB Tre Boston: There’s a target on Steve Wilks’ back

Tre Boston, who played for Steve Wilks in Carolina and Arizona, thinks his former coach is getting the shaft.

For two straight years, Steve Wilks has been told he’s not a fit. But one of his former players isn’t buying it.

Ex-Carolina Panthers safety Tre Boston took to Twitter on Wednesday following the announcement of Wilks’ dismissal from the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s what he had to say:

One day after sidestepping a direct question regarding Wilks’ future, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters he’d be moving off his defensive coordinator heading into the 2024 season. This is now the second year in a row, and the third time in his coaching career, that Wilks has seemingly gotten the shaft.

The first instance came in 2018, when the Arizona Cardinals fired Wilks from their head-coaching job after just one season. The second came last year, when he was passed up for the Panthers’ head-coaching vacancy despite reinvigorating the team in the interim role to close out the 2022 campaign.

Boston spent three seasons in Carolina under Wilks, who was his position coach from 2014 to 2016. He also followed Wilks out to Arizona for that lone season.

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4-Down Territory: Super Bowl LVIII recap edition

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Chiefs are the repeat champions, Doug Farrar and Kyle Madson break it down in “4-Down Territory.”

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs are the first team to repeat as champs since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to review the biggest game of the season in  “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. What does this loss do to Kyle Shanahan, as we have to add it to the other Super Bowl losses?
  2. How might we look at Andy Reid differently now that he has three Lombardi Trophies in five years?
  3. Is Patrick Mahomes the greatest quarterback ever? And if not, what’s the argument against it?
  4. Finally, where do the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers go from here?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

49ers fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

Kyle Shanahan has fired 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday that he has fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

Wilks lasted one season in San Francisco after he was an interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers last season. Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018.

Confirmed 49ers coaching changes coming in 2024

Confirmed coaching changes coming for 49ers:

The 49ers in 2024 will see some changes to their coaching staff, despite head coach Kyle Shanahan’s anticipation of keeping his assistants after 2023.

A handful of coaches were hired for different jobs elsewhere, while another was let go.

This is what happens to teams with as much success as San Francisco has had. Other clubs want to try and siphon off some of the coaching talent and we’ve seen this virtually every offseason from Shanahan’s staff.

Here are the confirmed departures for this offseason according to Shanahan’s conference call with reporters on Wednesday:

49ers fire DC, former Panthers coach Steve Wilks after Super Bowl LVIII loss

The 49ers are moving on from DC Steve Wilks.

Well, now we know how Kyle Shanahan really felt about Steve Wilks.

On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers head coach announced the dismissal of Wilks—who served as his defensive coordinator this past season. This decision comes a day after Shanahan said the following when he was asked if Wilks would be back for the 2024 campaign:

“I haven’t talked to anybody yet, so, yeah, I expect all our coaches to be back.”

Per NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo, Shanahan told reporters today that Wilks ended up not being the “right fit.” The 49ers, who came up short in a 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII this past Sunday, ranked eighth in total defense in 2023—allowing 303.9 total yards per game.

This is now the second sour ending for Wilks in as many offseasons. The Panthers parted ways with the Charlotte, N.C. native last year after landing on Frank Reich as their head coach.

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