The San Francisco 49ers have made another major move on their coaching staff.
The Athletic’s Matt Barrows on Tuesday reported the 49ers fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after one season. It’s the second time in as many offseasons San Francisco has parted ways with a defensive coordinator.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported the team will try to retain Sorensen on its defensive coaching staff. Sorensen joined the 49ers in 2022 as a defensive assistant. He was promoted to defensive passing game specialist and nickel cornerbacks coach in 2023 before being named defensive coordinator ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed confidence in Sorensen and the 49ers’ defense multiple times during the season despite the team’s struggles on that side of the ball.
“I think Nick has done a good job as a coach,” said Shanahan on December 28 before the team’s Week 17 matchup with the Detroit Lions. “No one’s happy with our results by any means. I think he’s been thrown in a number of situations that I think will make him better going forward. I’ve watched him adjust to a bunch of different situations, kind of be in a couple situations on a couple games when there wasn’t much of an answer, and he still had to try to find one. So, I think this year was good for him. I know he is going to be a good coach and better for it going forward.”
While injuries and player absences had an impact, it was clear there were regular communication issues and schematic errors. Ultimately Shanahan determined the team needed to find someone new at that spot.
Sorensen addressed the communication problems in what would be his final press conference leading up to Week 18.
“Yeah, we just, it’s frustrating,” said Sorensen. “And then that’s why those veteran guys say that, we’re all frustrated with it. It shows up and it’s, sometimes it’s different people, but it’s immediately they know that they shouldn’t have done that. So a lot of it is, the continue to push is the pre-snap communication is everything because most guys, if he’s off the ball, he’s probably going to move. So there’s got to be, we just have to keep being better at it. And it’s, you can’t do it after the play. It’s got to happen before. And then when it happens, someone starts moving during the play then you’ve already expected it, you’ve already pre-thought it. It’s just something we’ve got to keep getting better at. And it hasn’t, it’s kind of shown up in critical parts of critical games.”
Sorensen’s defense in his first year as a coordinator finished 29th in points allowed in part because they gave up 87 in the final two weeks. They also finished eighth in yards allowed, but the biggest issue may have been their inability to generate takeaways. San Francisco was 20th in takeaways and created only two in the final eight weeks.
This is the second-consecutive offseason the 49ers will need to search for a new DC. Steve Wilks was let go after just one season, setting the table for a high standard at that spot on the coaching staff.
It’s unclear who the 49ers have in mind to replace him. Most notably, former 49ers DC Robert Saleh is available after being fired as the Jets head coach mid-season. The Cincinnati Bengals also let go of DC Lou Anarumo. They’re both experienced with strong track records, and it stands to reason the 49ers will be looking to check those two boxes with their new lead defensive coach.