Kyle Shanahan on Steve Wilks: It just ended up not being the right fit
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan elected to fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on Tuesday after one season with the club.
Shanahan detailed the reasoning for moving on from Wilks during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday — a day after saying in his season-ending press conference that he expected the coaches to be back.
"I've been sleeping on this for a few nights and trying to come up with a few tough decisions, but this morning, I relieved Steve Wilks of his duties," Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. "A really tough decision because it really says nothing about Steve as a man or as a football coach. He's exactly what we wanted as a man. He is a great football coach. But just where we're going and where we're at with our team from a scheme standpoint and things like that, looking through it all throughout the year, through these last few days, I felt pretty strongly that this was a decision that was best for our organization.
"And even though it was one I didn't want to make, it was something that once I realized that I think a different direction is what's best for our organization, then it's something that I have to do. So let him know this morning, and I know I wasn't able to let you guys know yesterday because I wasn't sure about it yesterday. But I am now, and that's the case, and I wanted to let you guys know firsthand.”
Wilks replaced DeMeco Ryans, who departed the organization a year ago to become the Texans head coach. San Francisco went from being No. 1 in points allowed and yards allowed in 2022 to No. 3 in points allowed and No. 8 in yards allowed in 2023.
San Francisco turned to Wilks in part because he ran a four-down lineman scheme, and that's what the 49ers had been running under previous coordinators Robert Saleh and Ryans. But, as Shanahan said on Wednesday, “It just ended up not being the right fit.”
"And it hurt for me to do this, but that's exactly why I had to,” Shanahan said. “But it was just for his background and how it ended up with us, it was harder than it needed to be, and I felt it would improve us going a different direction.”
Shanahan added that he’ll “look into every possibility” in trying to replace Wilks this offseason.
"I'm committed, with a situation we're in, trying to find what we believe will give the Niners the best chance in 2024,” Shanahan said. "And when you have a group of guys who have played at a high level doing certain things a specific way for a while, I do feel that's [keeping the system intact] the best thing to do for them.
“But if I find something that I believe in and I could be sold on, that could be a better avenue, I would never hesitate to do that. So, I'm not closed-minded in any way.”
