Tag: Steve Wilks

49ers, DC Steve Wilks part ways

The #49ers and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks have parted ways.

The 49ers are in the market for a new defensive coordinator. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday in a conference call announced the team and Steve Wilks parted ways after the 2023 season. The news comes just a day after Shanahan said he expected all of his assistants to be back for the 2024 campaign.

Shanahan expressed a desire to bring in a defensive coordinator more in line philosophically with what San Francisco does on that side of the ball. Since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over they’ve been a defense predicated on a strong defensive front. Wilks’ background is in the secondary which may be part of the reason the team’s star-studded defensive front struggled at times to generate pressure and stop the run this season.

Their two previous defensive coordinators, Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans, both had backgrounds as linebackers coaches with Ryans learning under Saleh who came from the Pete Carroll defensive coaching tree.

It’s likely the 49ers’ next hire, whether internal or from outside the building, will be of a similar mold.

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49ers expecting former Panthers coach Steve Wilks to return in 2024

Former Panthers interim HC Steve Wilks is seemingly sticking around in San Francisco.

Charlotte, N.C. native Steve Wilks may have a home in the Bay Area.

During Tuesday’s season-ending press conference alongside his general manager John Lynch, San Francisco 49ers head coach was asked if Wilks would be returning for the 2024 campaign.

“I haven’t talked to anybody yet, so, yeah, I expect all our coaches to be back,” Shanahan replied, per 49ers Webzone’s Kirk Larrabee.

Wilks, the former Carolina Panthers interim head coach, served as the defensive coordinator for the NFC champions in 2023. Under his guidance, the 49ers ranked eighth in total defense—allowing 303.9 total yards per game.

San Francisco, however, just came up short in Super Bowl LVIII, falling in a 25-22 overtime thriller to the Kansas City Chiefs. The win was clinched with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who captured his third Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honor in the past five years.

It’s alright, Wilks. No one can stop that guy.

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Kyle Shanahan doesn’t expect major changes to coaching staff

It sounds like Steve Wilks will get an opportunity with the 49ers that he’s never gotten before: a second consecutive year as a defensive coordinator.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday sounded non-committal when asked about defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ future with San Francisco. Instead he laid out the laundry list of conversations the team needed to have internally during the offseason, and said he’d not spoken to any of his assistants in the couple of days following the team’s devastating 25-22 overtime loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

Shanahan answered a follow-up question about Wilks more directly, saying he expected all of the team’s coaches to be back in 2024.

Of course, there is the pending departure of offensive passing game specialist Klint Kubiak for the Saints offensive coordinator job. That’s one change that’ll be coming to San Francisco’s coaching staff, but it appears Wilks’ job is safe.

Wilks drew plenty of criticism for his defense’s role in San Francisco’s three-game losing skid in the middle of the year. They looked slow and unprepared, and a poorly-timed blitz call vs. the Vikings wound up playing a major role in Minnesota’s 22-17 win in Week 7. After the Week 9 bye, Wilks moved from the booth to the sideline and the 49ers’ defense started looking more effective.

In the playoffs things got a little sideways for the 49ers’ defense when they got demolished in the first half of the NFC championship by the Lions, and then struggled to get any late stops against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

It was worth wondering whether the 49ers would try and go a different direction than Wilks at the DC spot, but that doesn’t sound like it’s in Shanahan’s offseason plans. Wilks instead will get an opportunity he’s never gotten – a second consecutive year as a defensive coordinator.

He’ll get an offseason to make adjustments and another year to work with a group of players that he helped get to the Super Bowl.

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Christian McCaffrey, Steve Wilks, 49ers fall short in classic Super Bowl

Former Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey and coach Steve Wilks did all they could to bring the 49ers their first ring in 30 years. But it wasn’t enough.

Christian McCaffrey and Steve Wilks were on the doorstep of bringing the Bay Area their first Lombardi Trophy in 30 years. But unfortunately for them and the rest of the San Francisco 49ers, a GOAT was standing in their way.

Despite their valiant efforts, the former Carolina Panthers running back and interim head coach were denied on the biggest stage of the game Sunday night—as the Kansas City Chiefs notched a thrilling 25-22 overtime win in Super Bowl LVIII.

McCaffrey, who spent the better part of his first six NFL seasons in Carolina, tallied a game-high 160 yards from scrimmage. The 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year recorded 80 yards on 22 rushes along with another 80 yards and a score on eight catches.

Wilks, a Charlotte, N.C. native, managed to hold down the Kansas City offense for much of the tightly-contested matchup—as the Chiefs entered the break with only three points. But, as we’ve learned for the third time in five years, there’s no holding down Patrick Mahomes.

The newly-crowned three-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player led a game-winning 13-play, 75-yard drive in overtime—a walk-off possession that ended in a 3-yard touchdown pass to wideout Mecole Hardman. Mahomes finished the night having completed 34 of his 46 throws for 333 yards, two scores and an interception.

But hey, at least a few other old friends were on the winning side—including kicker Harrison Butker, whose 57-yard field goal in the third quarter set a new Super Bowl record. The Chiefs have also carried former Panthers receiver Shi Smith and cornerback Keith Taylor on their practice squad.

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Five things the San Francisco 49ers must do to win Super Bowl LVIII

If the San Francisco 49ers are to win Super Bowl LVIII, they might want to pay attention to these five advanced scouting points.

Every Super Bowl comes down to a few big plays, and a few key matchups. You never know what it’s going to be, but when the game is over, and it’s time for coaches and players to review what happened and why, everyone will go back to their advanced scouting reports — how they aligned their guys and how those guys played from a schematic perspective — and try to discern what went right and what went wrong.

Not that we’re professional advanced scouts at Touchdown Wire, but here are five things the San Francisco 49ers should probably pay close attention to when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs today in Super Bowl LVIII.

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49ers DC Steve Wilks: I’m not bitter about departure from Panthers

49ers DC Steve Wilks said he’s not bitter about how his exit from Carolina went down.

If Steve Wilks is still harboring resentment towards the Carolina Panthers, no one would blame him for it. But we can put that hypothetical to bed, because it’s not the case.

On Wednesday, the former Carolina interim head coach and current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator spoke with reporters ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl LVIII matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. He touched upon his disappointing departure from the Panthers, which went down around this time last year.

“I’m not bitter,” he said, per Sheena Quick of FOX Sports Radio 1340 AM. “Everything’s a learning experience for me, and I learned a lot there—a lot of what not to do. Learned a lot of what it should look like, particularly coming here. There’s so much respect that I have for this organization [49ers].

“The York family, starting with Jed, they do it the right way—just completely how they run the organization. And really giving Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] everything they need to succeed—everything down to the meals, the food, how we travel. It’s just top-notch.”

Wilks didn’t exactly get a top-notch exit from the last organization he worked for. The Charlotte native, who stepped in for the fired Matt Rhule in the middle of the 2022 season and nearly led the Panthers to an improbable NFC South title, was passed up for the team’s full-time head-coaching job.

That gig, instead, went to Frank Reich—who was dismissed after just 11 games.

Wilks and the Niners, meanwhile, are on the doorstep of football immortality.

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49ers DC Steve Wilks not bitter about departure from Panthers

49ers DC Steve Wilks said he’s not bitter about how his exit from Carolina went down.

If Steve Wilks is still harboring resentment towards the Carolina Panthers, no one would blame him for it. But we can put that hypothetical to bed, because it’s not the case.

On Wednesday, the former Carolina interim head coach and current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator spoke with reporters ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl LVIII matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. He touched upon his disappointing departure from the Panthers, which went down around this time last year.

“I’m not bitter,” he said, per Sheena Quick of FOX Sports Radio 1340 AM. “Everything’s a learning experience for me, and I learned a lot there—a lot of what not to do. Learned a lot of what it should look like, particularly coming here. There’s so much respect that I have for this organization [49ers].

“The York family, starting with Jed, they do it the right way—just completely how they run the organization. And really giving Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] everything they need to succeed—everything down to the meals, the food, how we travel. It’s just top-notch.”

Wilks didn’t exactly get a top-notch exit from the last organization he worked for. The Charlotte native, who stepped in for the fired Matt Rhule in the middle of the 2022 season and nearly led the Panthers to an improbable NFC South title, was passed up for the team’s full-time head-coaching job.

That gig, instead, went to Frank Reich—who was dismissed after just 11 games.

Wilks and the Niners, meanwhile, are on the doorstep of football immortality.

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4-Down Territory: Super Bowl LVIII Preview Edition!

In this week’s “4-Down Territory, Doug and Kyle get into all the Super Bowl LVIII particulars, and predict who will win.

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is set between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, it’s time for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to get heavy into the biggest game of the season in  “4-Down Territory.”

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

  1. What must the San Francisco 49ers do if they want to win this game?
  2. What must the Kansas City Chiefs do to take their third Lombardi Trophy in the last five seasons?
  3. Who will be the Secret Superstar in Super Bowl LVIII?
  4. Finally, who will win the game, and why?

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 DC Steve Wilks says Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is best QB he’s ever seen

Steve Wilks said Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is the best QB he’s ever seen.

49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has been around football and the NFL a long time. He made his coaching debut as a college defensive coordinator in 1995, and he found his way into the NFL in 2006. As primarily a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator, Wilks has evaluated perhaps every (or almost every?) QB who’s played in the NFL since he entered the league 18 seasons ago. None of them have been better than Chiefs signal caller Patrick Mahomes.

Wilks on Friday in his press conference talked about the challenge of facing Mahomes given his varied, high-level skill set. Within that answer, he called the Chiefs’ QB the best he’s ever seen.

“We definitely have to prepare and be ready,” Wilks said. “It’s different things that we have to do. Number one, he’s doing a tremendous job, really extended plays. We talked all week. It’s two plays within one down. When the ball snaps and then once he starts to scramble. So he’s phenomenal. The best I’ve ever seen for just buying time, winning with his feet and getting the ball where it needs to go down the field.”

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The 49ers experienced the danger of that “two plays within one down” in their last Super Bowl run-in with Mahomes. They also got shredded by Mahomes and the Chiefs in Week 7 last season in a 44-23 loss at Levi’s Stadium.

It may be too early to crown Mahomes as the best QB ever depending on a person’s criteria, but it’s impossible to argue he’s not on track to get there. His numbers are prolific, and he’s capable of evolving as a passer to best suit the personnel around him. In six seasons as a starter he’s been to six AFC championship games and four Super Bowls, and he’s still not 30-years old.

Even if someone in February of 2024 wants to say there have been better QBs than Mahomes, history may eventually push everyone toward Wilks’ line of thinking.

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How Steve Wilks’ 49ers defense can put a lid on Patrick Mahomes

If the 49ers are going to put a lid on Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVIII, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will have to open his entire playbook.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl — for the fourth time in the last five seasons — and Patrick Mahomes is getting hot at exactly the right time. Mahomes’ 2023 regular season, affected as it was by some iffy receivers and a questionable playbook at times, was underwhelming. But in his two playoff games, Mahomes has completed 47 of 62 passes (75.8% completion rate) for 456 yards (7.4 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 112.0.

If the San Francisco 49ers are to avenge their 31-20 loss to the Chiefs in  Super Bowl LIV four years ago, they’ll have to do as much as possible to contain Mahomes both as a passer and as a second-reaction runner. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is well aware.

“Well, it is definitely a challenge,” Wilks said Friday of the Mahomes Factor.  “Not only him, you look at [Travis] Kelce, you talk about two first-ballot Hall of Famers there. We definitely have to prepare and be ready. It’s different things that we have to do. Number one, he’s doing a tremendous job, really extended plays. We talked all week. It’s two plays within one down. When the ball snaps and then once he starts to scramble. So he’s phenomenal. The best I’ve ever seen for just buying time, winning with his feet, and getting the ball where it needs to go down the field.

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“They do ad-lib and they do a great job of it. But we still have to have a great plan. We’ve still got to execute and finish. When they start to ad-lib we’ve got to do a great job of really plastering the man within our zone and really straining to make sure we finish the rep.”

Putting a lid on Patrick Mahomes when he’s on is one of the toughest things to do in sports, but the 49ers under Wilks do have some concepts that they execute very well, which could get them started down the right path. Some are obvious, and some seem quite counterintuitive, but here’s what the 49ers have done this season, and what Mahomes would prefer they not do, that could make a serious difference in Super Bowl LVIII.