49ers add former Rams DC to staff and former Rams player as their new DC
The Niners promoted Nick Sorenson to defensive coordinator and hired Brandon Staley as well
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The long wait is over and the San Francisco 49ers have a new defensive coordinator: Nick Sorenson. Kyle Shanahan is promoting Sorenson from defensive pass game specialist and nickel cornerbacks coach to defensive coordinator, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move comes weeks after the team fired Steve Wilks following a Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and as expected is an internal promotion. But the 49ers made another significant move this weekend, as Kyle Shanahan is also hiring former L.A. Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley as his assistant head coach.
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Apparently he wasn’t the right person for the defensive coordinator position, which he did interview for, but with few other opportunities available it seems Staley’s best bet was to jump trees to Shanahan.
The 41-year-old Staley got his first NFL opportunity with Vic Fangio on the 2017 Chicago Bears and he skyrocketed up the ranks when he was named as the Rams defensive coordinator in 2020. L.A. had the top-ranked scoring defense that season and Staley was hired as the head coach of the Chargers after the season. A playoff appearance in his second season was followed by a collapse in year three and Staley was fired following a 5-9 start in 2023.
There was never any real heat on a potential reunion with the Rams after Raheem Morris was hired by the Atlanta Falcons and it turns out no team was that keen on Staley as a defensive coordinator.
San Francisco’s defense is now turned over to Nick Sorenson, a former quarterback-turned-safety at Virginia Tech who played his first two seasons with the St. Louis Rams from 2001-2002 and then spent four years with the Jaguars and four years with the Browns. He coached for eight years under Pete Carroll on the Seattle Seahawks, was Jacksonville’s special teams coordinator in 2021, and the last two with the 49ers.
The 49ers are not expected to change what they do on defense, only who is calling the plays.
