49ers hire a former Rams player as their new DC and add him to their staff.
The Niners hired Brandon Staley and promoted Nick Sorenson to defensive coordinator.
After a protracted search, Nick Sorenson has been named the new defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. From defensive pass game specialist and nickel cornerbacks coach, Kyle Shanahan is elevating Sorenson to defensive coordinator, as Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. This is an internal promotion, as predicted, and comes weeks after the organization fired Steve Wilks in the wake of a Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the 49ers also made a big move this weekend when they announced the hire of Brandon Staley, a former defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, as associate head coach.
Although he did interview for the defensive coordinator post, it appears he wasn’t the ideal fit. Given the lack of other options, it appears Staley’s best option was to leap trees to Shanahan.
Vic Fangio gave the 41-year-old Staley his first NFL opportunity with the Chicago Bears in 2017, and he quickly rose up the ranks to become the defensive coordinator for the Rams in 2020. That season, Los Angeles boasted the best scoring defense in the league, and Staley was appointed head coach of the Chargers following the season. After making the playoffs in his second season, Staley’s team collapsed in his third, and after a 5–9 start in 2023, he was sacked.
After Raheem Morris was signed by the Atlanta Falcons, there was never much pressure on a possible reunion with the Rams, and it turns out that no team was very interested in Staley as a defensive coordinator.
Nick Sorenson, a former Virginia Tech quarterback who switched to safety, will now take over for San Francisco as their defensive coordinator. Sorenson played his first two seasons with the St. Louis Rams in 2001 and 2002 before spending four years with the Jaguars and four years with the Browns. He worked as Pete Carroll’s assistant coach for eight years with the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville’s special teams coordinator in 2021, and the 49ers for the final two seasons.
It is anticipated that the 49ers will merely alter who is calling the plays, not their defensive strategy.
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