The San Francisco 49ers have shaken up their staff after missing the NFL Playoffs. The team dismissed defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen from his position, and has identified a significant candidate for the job.
Via Pro Football Talk, the 49ers have keyed in on former Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley to potentially run the defense.
“Shanahan also said that assistant head coach Brandon Staley will be an internal candidate to run the defense,” PFT wrote.
“Staley interviewed for the job last offseason, but wound up in his current role after Sorensen was hired,” they added. Shanahan also assured they’d look outside the organization as well.
The Niners disappointed during the 2024 season. After making the Super Bowl last year, and going on multiple runs in January over the years, they sputtered and spiraled out of first place. Christian McCaffrey dealt with the injury bug, so did Jordan Mason, and several other stars on both sides of the ball.
Brock Purdy will be due a new contract soon, but that’s an entirely different conversation for the team to have this offseason. It’s clear the team needs a bit of work structurally, so it will be intriguing to see where this shakeup takes them.
Staley has proven to be aces on defense, but didn’t quite cut it as a head coach in Los Angeles with the Chargers. But coordinating and coaching, as always, are two different things.
We’ll see soon enough where the 49ers land with their coaching decisions.
