02-15-2024, 10:39 AM -
He said he is not close minded....ha!
He hired a DC who was not like his previous 2 but then insisted that he become them. I do not think that wilks is a great DC but still he was put in an impossible situation. I also think Shanahan was very disrespectful to Wilks from the beginning. Kind of surprised Wilks took the job in the 1st place.
But I don’t know if anybody outside of the 49ers’ defensive hive mind could’ve avoided a firing at this point. I do know that Wilks, who wasn’t part of the 49ers’ culture when he was hired and never could find a way to merge with it, is now without a job. It’s a bad look to fire somebody with such a good reputation in the days after a failed Super Bowl. But if you believe Shanahan’s explanation on Wednesday, and I do, it’s not a scapegoating as much as an admission that Shanahan and John Lynch made a mistake when they hired Wilks in the first place.
It wasn’t his fault as much as it was theirs.
The 49ers simply have a very specific way of running their defense, which was initiated by Robert Saleh in his three DC years before moving on to the Jets’ top job and was elevated by DeMeco Ryans, previously the linebackers coach under Saleh, in his two DC years before he got his own top job in Houston.
The 49ers needed more of that. It was up to them to realize that Wilks wasn’t going to give it to them, and they realized it too late. But there’s context: The 49ers didn’t have a strong in-house candidate to replace Ryans last year and they couldn’t land Vic Fangio, who ended up with the Dolphins (and is now with the Eagles).
Shanahan and Lynch logically wanted to keep the same Seahawks-style Cover 3 scheme that fits their roster so well, but they also wanted an authoritative figure. Wilks had the authority, but no experience in the Seattle system. So the 49ers’ brass just hoped he’d pick up on the scheme. But it never happened. Wilks was always the outsider looking in.
https://theathletic.com/5276062/2024/02/...-kawakami/
He hired a DC who was not like his previous 2 but then insisted that he become them. I do not think that wilks is a great DC but still he was put in an impossible situation. I also think Shanahan was very disrespectful to Wilks from the beginning. Kind of surprised Wilks took the job in the 1st place.
But I don’t know if anybody outside of the 49ers’ defensive hive mind could’ve avoided a firing at this point. I do know that Wilks, who wasn’t part of the 49ers’ culture when he was hired and never could find a way to merge with it, is now without a job. It’s a bad look to fire somebody with such a good reputation in the days after a failed Super Bowl. But if you believe Shanahan’s explanation on Wednesday, and I do, it’s not a scapegoating as much as an admission that Shanahan and John Lynch made a mistake when they hired Wilks in the first place.
It wasn’t his fault as much as it was theirs.
The 49ers simply have a very specific way of running their defense, which was initiated by Robert Saleh in his three DC years before moving on to the Jets’ top job and was elevated by DeMeco Ryans, previously the linebackers coach under Saleh, in his two DC years before he got his own top job in Houston.
The 49ers needed more of that. It was up to them to realize that Wilks wasn’t going to give it to them, and they realized it too late. But there’s context: The 49ers didn’t have a strong in-house candidate to replace Ryans last year and they couldn’t land Vic Fangio, who ended up with the Dolphins (and is now with the Eagles).
Shanahan and Lynch logically wanted to keep the same Seahawks-style Cover 3 scheme that fits their roster so well, but they also wanted an authoritative figure. Wilks had the authority, but no experience in the Seattle system. So the 49ers’ brass just hoped he’d pick up on the scheme. But it never happened. Wilks was always the outsider looking in.
https://theathletic.com/5276062/2024/02/...-kawakami/