The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly hiring Steve Wilks to be their defensive coordinator, per Tom Pelissero. Wilks, who was formerly with the Carolina Panthers, will replace DeMeco Ryans in San Francisco who recently took over head coaching duties for the Houston Texans.
There were plenty of people around the NFL world who expected Steve Wilks to take over full-time head coaching duties in Carolina. But the Panthers ultimately opted to hire Frank Reich instead. The coaching snub reportedly rubbed the Panthers' locker room the wrong way.
Nevertheless, Wilks is now preparing to take over an elite defensive unit in San Francisco. Replacing Ryans will be a difficult task without question. The 49ers' defense was amongst the best in all of football this past season. It kept the team afloat amid their quarterback injury situation. There's no denying the fact that the 49ers wouldn't have performed as well as they did without their top-tier defensive unit.
Steve Wilks will be tasked with continuing their defensive momentum in 2023. But San Francisco is hopeful that the burden will not be firmly placed on the defense again. The 49ers' offense will help matters even further if they have a healthy QB.
Losing DeMeco Ryans is far from ideal. But replacing him with someone like Wilks will certainly excite the fan base. It will be interesting to see how he fares during the 2023 campaign.
We will continue to monitor and provide updates on the 49ers during the NFL offseason as they are made available.
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