One of the side effects of the San Francisco 49ers disastrous 2024 season has been an increasingly bright spotlight on the coaching staff.
While head coach Kyle Shanahan earned his share of scrutiny, defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen has come under fire after the 49ers defense allowed a combined 73 points across Weeks 12 and 13 in losses to the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills.
Despite a pair of putrid defensive performances, Shanahan backed his defensive coordinator in a Monday conference call.
“Yeah, I’m very satisfied with Nick,” Shanahan said. “I’m not at all satisfied with the results and how it’s going right now. But, some of the mistakes that we’ve made, I don’t think or what’s happened here in these last two weeks, I don’t think that’s a schematic issue. It’s a little bit more of a fundamental issue. And that also starts with me. That goes to all coaching, and it goes down to the players, it goes to everyone in this building. But the results here these last two weeks haven’t changed my opinion on Nick.”
The 49ers parted ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after last season, so it makes sense Shanahan wouldn’t be eager to make another change in the coming offseason.
It’s also worth noting Sorensen is a first-time defensive coordinator and that Robert Saleh dealt with a couple of rough seasons before breaking out a star DC and head coaching candidate in 2019.
What’s clear, if Sorensen is indeed sticking around, the 49ers need something to change defensively. If it isn’t the defensive play caller, then it’s either a schematic shift that needs to happen or a personnel overhaul.
Even before their two-week meltdown there was a clear issue with a once-dominant San Francisco defense this season. How they go about making those changes will ultimately determine Sorensen’s future, and perhaps the future of the Shanahan era.
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