Nick Sorensen is up for consideration, but the 49ers hired an external candidate.
On Sunday night, the San Francisco 49ers announced that they interviewed Detroit Lions special teams assistant coach Jett Modkins. Modkins has been with Detroit since 2021. Because this is a coordinator job, it was likely a Rooney Rule requirement, as it was conducted virtually.
If the name Modkins sounds familiar, Jeff’s dad, Curtis, was the 49ers offensive coordinator in 2016.
The Lions finished the season ranked 1st in special teams schedule-adjusted efficiency, which was 30 spots higher than the Ninres in 2024. From 2021-2023, Detroit was 8-for-10 on fake punt attempts. That’s an area where the 49ers have lacked creativity, so picking the brains of the Lions coaching staff makes plenty of sense.
There are plenty of areas where Modkins and the Lions have excelled in areas where the 49ers haven’t. For example, Detroit’s opponents started with the lowest average field position in the NFL in 2023. In ‘22, they led the NFL with the highest percentage of kickoff returns going for 20+ yards and were top three in kickoff return yardage.
Modkins is relatively new to coaching. His first position was as a defensive volunteer coach with Akron University in 2019. He was with the Denver Broncos as the team’s diversity coaching intern on offense in 2020.
Kyle Shanahan talked about the lack of adjustments they made defensively this past season. While we’re talking about special teams, Modkins and the assistants are the coaches who have to filter through a bunch of tape to determine who can play where, as injuries tend to trickle down and impact special teams the most. So, knowing how banged up the Lions were this past season, Modkins has plenty of experience adjusting on the fly to new personnel.
This is the first external candidate that we’ve heard of for the special teams coordinator position. Shanahan mentioned former defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen is also under consideration for the position.