The San Francisco 49ers firing Steve Wilks following the Super Bowl reeks of the defensive coordinator being scapegoated.
Even if that’s true on some level, there was a point in the season where going in a different direction at DC was plausible. And perhaps Kyle Shanahan is kicking himself for not doing just that.
Shanahan announced the firing of Wilks as well as four other departures on the coaching staff Wednesday. That’s on the heels of their overtime loss to the Super Bowl against the Chiefs – a game in which the defense held up on its end of the bargain more so than the offense.
Nevertheless, the change was an abrupt one. Wilks had just finished his first season on staff, and though there were some obvious issues with the defense, they still remained one of the better units in the NFL.
Yet there was a point in time where things had really gone sideways for the defense. San Francisco dropped three games straight in October, surrendering 19 points to the PJ Walker-led Browns, 22 points to Kirk Cousins and the Vikings and 31 points to Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
The 49ers sat at 5-3 following the loss to the Bengals, and if ever there was a time to can Wilks, it was probably then. Matt Steinmetz said Thursday on Steiny & Guru that if he had to guess, Shanahan would want a do-over on sticking with Wilks.
“Wilks is a scapegoat, but I also don’t think he was a good fit,” Steiny said. “Because I don’t think he got the most out of the defense, and I don’t think the players were crazy about Wilks. But I bet if you ask Kyle Shanahan, I’ll bet you he’d tell you we should have fired Steve in the middle of that losing streak. I bet you if he had a do-over, he would have fired Wilks in the middle of the year.
“Because now, isn’t it obvious they weren’t on the same page? There was something not clicking and it lasted the whole season, and they both kind of lived with each other but they weren’t crazy about each other and Kyle threw him under the bus, and maybe things changed at that point for even the worst.
“But I bet you Kyle Shanahan kind of wishes he would have seen what would have happened if he cut the cord at the moment he had doubts, which let’s say was after the end of the three-game losing streak.”