Tag: Nick Sorensen

49ers depth chart: DC reveals who 3rd starting cornerback will be

We know now who the 49ers’ 3 starting CBs will be.

The nickel cornerback spot was one of the few starting lineup questions for the San Francisco 49ers heading into training camp.

Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir were both locked in as starters, but the nickel CB job was up for grabs with a handful of contenders. As camp and the preseason churned on, veteran Isaac Yiadom and rookie second-round pick Renardo Green emerged as the top options to earn starting jobs.

Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen told reporters after Friday’s practice the club has an answer at that spot. Rather than playing coy, Sorensen divulged the 49ers would lean toward the veteran as the third CB.

“Well how we’ve been going has been how it started out, with Ike (Yiadom) and DMo (Lenoir) and Mooney (Ward),” Sorensen said. “And then we’ve been rotating guys through and getting a lot of reps with them as well. But that’s how it’s going right now. And Renardo (Green) rotating in.”

Lenoir and Ward figure to be the two outside corners in the 49ers’ base defense. In the more commonly-used nickel packages, Yiadom will take over an outside spot while Lenoir kicks inside to the slot.

Green worked primarily in the slot during his first training camp. If he rotates in it would likely be in the slot with Lenoir staying outside.

This is in line with how the 49ers approached the third CB job last year. They didn’t have a rookie, but they had veterans Ambry Thomas and Isaiah Oliver.

Thomas would play outside in nickel with Lenoir in the slot. If Oliver was in, he’d play in the slot with Lenoir outside.

Nickel CB was a pretty significant problem for the 49ers last season. Ward and Lenoir were both very good, but their third CB spot was up-and-down all year.

This season they have some options again, but they’ll lean on Yiadom who is coming off his best season as a pro. If he picks up where he left off with the Saints last season and Lenoir continues his ascension toward being a Pro Bowl caliber slot CB, the 49ers will have solved a significant issue in their secondary.

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49ers defensive coordinator drops hint on how 53-man roster will go

Expect the 49ers to lean toward younger players when making their final roster cuts.

The San Francisco 49ers won’t have to make any final roster cuts until after their preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders.

This year is unique for the 49ers since they have a slew of roster spots that are yet to be spoken for. That’s particularly true on the defensive side of the ball where a couple of starting jobs are among the stack of available roster spots.

Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen on Wednesday in his press conference actually offered some insight into his thinking on the 53-man roster.

New practice squad rules allow teams to keep veterans around on an expanded 15-man unit. Sorensen said the new rules push teams to favor younger players over veterans when it comes to final cuts.

“Oh, it makes a huge difference,” Sorensen said. “It wasn’t too long ago you only had five practice squad players and there were so many limitations on that. The standard elevations now that you can do with players and how many times you can do it, I think it’s smart because back in the day or even in those days not too long ago, you would play through injuries. You wouldn’t report them or you would just play through them. Where now it’s you can be smarter because you can standard elevate guys. You’ve got guys that are in your program that you’re developing, the 16 and six of them are veterans, which I think also extends the careers of these guys that all feel like you could play longer if you just had a chance that you could hang around.”

This is noteworthy at a handful of positions. At linebacker a player like Curtis Robinson may now fall into a bucket where he’s let go at final cuts in hopes of returning him to the practice squad. Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin may have the same fate. The same may go on the other side of the ball for offensive linemen Chris Hubbard and Brandon Parker. Wide receivers Chris Conley and Trent Taylor may fall into that mix as well.

San Francisco may decide to roster some of those veterans, but Sorensen gave some clarity on how the 49ers defense could ultimately shake out at those hotly-contested positions. That philosophy may permeate to the other side of the ball as well.

Don’t be shocked if at final cuts some capable veterans are let go in favor of younger players. The practice squad provides an opening for those vets to return, and the 49ers appear ready to take full advantage of that.

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How veteran CB Isaac Yiadom made strong impression with 49ers DC Nick Sorensen

Isaac Yiadom made an impression on the #49ers by doing something DC Nick Sorensen had never seen immediately after signing.

It didn’t take long for veteran cornerback Isaac Yiadom to raise eyebrows in the 49ers’ facility. In fact, it took about as little time as it can possibly take.

Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke with media following Wednesday’s practice and talked about how Yiadom made an immediate impression with the 49ers by getting a workout in right after signing his contract.

“I think with Ike, he came into the league and he kind of bounced around for a while. But everything we had heard about him and you see is what he’s been when he got here,” Sorensen said. “He’s kind of self-made, like he works. He’s very serious. I think when he came to sign, he actually like went and got a workout after he signed. I’ve never seen that, but that’s him. I think that’s what’s kind of shown up with who he is and he’s very meticulous and the stuff that showed up later in the year with him and how he competed against a lot of really good receivers. I think it’s been awesome that we’re seeing that now too.”

While the hard-nosed work ethic caught the eye of the 49ers new DC, it wasn’t going to be enough to earn him a roster spot. However, he’s continued making his mark throughout his time with the club.

“He’s very technical. He’s very strong,” Sorensen said. “I think he’s a guy that’s also, like we talk about Mooney being strong and a tackler, he’s got that in his history as well. He’s a tough guy. He’s physical. He plays with his hands. He’s violent. He communicates. He sees things before they happen and that stuff has shown up.”

Yiadom was a largely unheralded signing by the 49ers late in free agency. His contributions as a pro have largely come on special teams, but he’s coming off his best defensive season which provides some optimism that he may have reached a point in his career where he can be a starting CB on a good defense. He’s also a high-quality special teams player.

It looks like Yiadom has an inside track to a roster spot in a crowded CB room. If he keeps making good impressions though he could wind up earning a starting spot.

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Fred Warner on what he loves about 49ers new DC Nick Sorensen

Fred Warner is a big fan of new 49ers DC Nick Sorensen.

There’s been an incredibly high standard set for the 49ers’ defense since they first made a deep playoff run in 2019. From that 2019 season on they’ve regularly been one of the league’s best units. Last season they slipped some and the club moved on from defensive coordinator Steve Wilks in the offseason.

Instead of hiring an external candidate to replace him, the club went with Nick Sorensen, who’d been on San Francisco’s staff since 2022 as a defensive assistant and defensive passing game specialist. While Sorensen wasn’t the hottest name on the market, his hire was one 49ers linebacker and defensive leader Fred Warner liked.

Warner joined the Candlestick Chronicles podcast on behalf of health technology leader, Abbott, and their ‘Beat Malnutrition’ campaign with Real Madrid, and explained what adjustments he’d have to make with a new DC at the helm.

“For me specifically I do have the green dot so I’m the one that’s hearing that communication with the defensive coordinator,” Warner said. “That does take time to develop that connection and I know it’s gonna be seamless with Nick. I think having him around the building these last couple years has been awesome.”

Having that established relationship with the team’s defensive signal caller should be helpful for Sorensen who is stepping into a role that experienced some turbulence last season. Getting on the same page not only with head coach Kyle Shanahan, but also with Warner and the 49ers’ defensive personnel is paramount to Sorensen’s success.

While Warner will still have to build that in-game relationship with the DC, he gave plenty of reasons why he believes Sorensen was the right hire.

“I love Nick, I love what he’s about,” Warner told Candlestick Chronicles. “Love the fact that he’s played the game for a long time,  understands ball, is a great leader, and understands that we haven’t played our best defense as of late and that we need to return to that. And so it’s been crystal clear what the standard is moving forward, and yeah, I’m really excited about it. I think it’ll be a great hire and move going forward.”

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DC Nick Sorensen explains Brandon Staley’s role on coaching staff

49ers DC Nick Sorensen has enjoyed having Brandon Staley on the coaching staff. But what is Staley’s role going to be?

The 49ers interviewed former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley for their defensive coordinator opening this offseason. They hired Staley, but not for the DC job. That went to 49ers defensive pass game specialist Nick Sorensen.

Sorensen is a first-time coordinator while Staley earned a head coaching job because of his time as a defensive coordinator with the Rams. The hires led to some questions about how Staley will fit in a coaching staff that already has a defensive coordinator, but Sorensen on Friday in his first press conference explained what Staley will bring to San Francisco’s defense.

“He has experience as a coordinator, he has experience as a head coach, so he sees things holistically,” Sorensen told reporters. “He knows how to build plans. Just getting him in here and spending extra hours just talking football with him, he’s very bright and is really a humble guy who is smart and knows football. That’s been really awesome and helpful for me.”

The 49ers’ DC went on to explain what Staley’s role would be.

“He’s been helping me overall,” Sorensen said. “He’s been involved with pretty much everything, as far as, ‘here is where we did this’ and I’ve been kind of talking him through how we play certain things, watching things throughout the League and what other teams do. Some of the things that he did, asking would this fit or would it not fit in our defense? And some things I was already familiar with from just watching different defenses.

“You naturally see other defenses do things. He’s been more connected with the DBs and the nickels, but he also has experience elsewhere with defensive ends and outside linebackers. But with the staff that we have, I think for me it’s going to be really helpful that he’s done it before and he’s had success and he’s been a head coach as well. So, like I said, it’s been great.”

One of the reasons the 49ers moved on from DC Steve Wilks after last season was because he never quite got on the same page with his defensive personnel and what the team wanted to do on that side of the ball. Hiring an internal candidate made sense given those issues, but bringing in Staley added a potential variable that could cause an issue.

It sounds like the early portion of Sorensen’s move to defensive coordinator has been aided by having Staley around though. Having that many good defensive minds in the building will ultimately benefit the 49ers as long as the Sorensen-Staley relationship remains as good as it has started.

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Seahawks great KJ Wright says he’s joining 49ers coaching staff

Wright will also get to work with one of the best linebacker groups in football.

Former Seahawks linebacker KJ Wright says he’s joining the 49ers coaching staff as an assistant linebackers coach.

Wright broke the news himself in his most recent podcast, which came out this morning.

Wright will be working under Nick Sorensen, who has replaced Steve Wilks as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator.

Sorensen previously worked with the Seahawks in a variety of roles from 2013-2020, including as their secondary coach for four years. This past season he served as the Niners’ defensive pass game specialist and nickels coach.

Wright will also get to work with one of the best linebacker groups in football. The combination of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw is as tough as they come at the inside linebacker spots.

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NFL Twitter reacts to 49ers hiring Nick Sorensen as new defensive coordinator

Here’s what fans and analysts were saying on Twitter after the 49ers reportedly hired Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator.

The San Francisco 49ers reportedly have a new defensive coordinator.

After one season of Steve Wilks at defensive coordinator, the 49ers are promoting defensive passing game specialist and nickles coach Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator, per Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

Along with promoting Sorensen, the 49ers are hiring former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley to a “prominent staff role,” according to Schefter and Fowler. The 49ers interviewed Staley as a candidate for defensive coordinator. Prior to joining the Chargers as head coach, Staley was defensive coordinator under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams.

Via @AdamSchefter on Twitter:

Sorensen joined the 49ers as a defensive assistant in 2022. Prior to coaching on Kyle Shanahan’s staff, Sorensen was the special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before joining the Jaguars, Sorensen coached with the Seattle Seahawks from 2013 to 2020.

After the reported promotion of Sorensen and the hiring of Staley, the NFL community on Twitter exploded with reactions. Here’s what fans and analysts were saying on social media early on Saturday morning.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

Report: 49ers promote Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator

The defensive passing game specialist has reportedly been promoted defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

After an extended search that has included multiple candidates, the San Francisco 49ers have reportedly made a decision on their next defensive coordinator.

According to Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the 49ers are planning to promote defensive passing game specialist Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator. Along with promoting Sorensen, the 49ers are also hiring former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley to a “prominent staff role,” per Shefter and Fowler. Staley initially interviewed for the 49ers opening at defensive coordinator.

Via @AdamSchefter on Twitter:

Sorensen joined Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff in 2022 as the defensive passing game and nickles coach. Prior to joining the 49ers, Sorensen served as the Jacksonville Jaguars special teams coordinator in 2021. Along with Jacksonville, Sorensen has also served as an assistant coach of the Seattle Seahawks for eight seasons, winning a Super Bowl as a special teams coach in 2013. Sorensen also coached Seattle’s secondary from 2017 to 2020.

Prior to coaching, Sorensen played safety in the NFL from 2001 to 2010. Sorensen played for the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns. Sorensen played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Before moving to defense, Sorensen played quarterback for the Hokies. Future No. 1 overall pick Michael Vick took over for Sorensen at quarterback at Virginia Tech.

After DeMeco Ryans left the 49ers to join the Houston Texans as head coach, the 49ers hired outside the organization for defensive coordinator with the addition of Steve Wilks. Following one season of Wilks as defensive coordinator, the 49ers keep it internal for their next defensive coordinator.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Seahawks expected to consider Nick Sorensen for defensive backs coach

Seahawks expected to consider Nick Sorensen for defensive backs coach

Now that the Seattle Seahawks have fired both defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and defensive backs coach Andre Curtis, they must find suitable candidates to replace them.

While the defensive coordinator job will receive more attention, Pro Football Network reporter Aaron Wilson stated that Seattle may consider a former Seahawks secondary coach for the position.

Nick Sorensen is currently the special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but worked for the Seahawks from 2013 to 2020. He served as assistant special teams coach during his first three years, assistant defensive backs coach in 2016, and secondary coach from 2017 to 2020.

Sorensen’s future with Jacksonville is up in the air, as they had the worst record in the NFL this season and the entire coaching staff may be in for an overhaul. However, the organization will likely evaluate and reach out to multiple candidates as is standard with every coaching job in this league an sports in general. We will all see what happens soon enough.

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Jags make hiring of Nick Sorensen to staff official

The Jags have a new special teams coach.

Last week NFL Network reported that the Jacksonville Jaguars had their eyes set on Nick Sorensen to be their special teams coach — and it’s now official. The team announced that Sorensen had been hired on Tuesday and he will now replace Brian Schneider, who stepped away from the team indefinitely for personal reasons.

Sorensen is a name familiar to the Jags fan base as he once played for the franchise under Jack Del Rio from 2003-06. He also had tenures with the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns as a regular season player. Overall, he spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a special teamer and safety, accumulating 131 total tackles, half a sack and two pass deflections.

Sorensen was once a special teams assistant with the Seattle Seahawks under Schneider (2013-17), so he’s familiar with the system that was constructed during the offseason. After his time coaching special teams, he also got to coach defensive backs as a secondary coach/nickel specialist with Seattle. In the process he worked alongside cornerback Shaquill Griffin, who the Jags signed in free agency this offseason.

Sorensen, who is from Winter Haven, Fla. won’t be too far from home as he returns to the Jags. Aiding him will be special teams assistant Carlos Polk, who brings 11 years of NFL coaching experience to the mix.