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When news broke that Nick Sorensen was not returning to the San Francisco 49ers as their defensive coordinator, it took some fans by surprise.
Now granted, the 49ers' defense was the worst it's been since DeMeco Ryans left town for the Houston Texans job, with Sorensen failing to live up to the standard Steve Wilks set before his one-and-done year by the Bay, but saying goodbye to the rising star? Who has been a member of the 49ers coaching staff since 2022? After just one year with the clipboard? Goodness, that was certainly a choice.
Well, as it turns out, saying goodbye is a bit of a nebulous term, in his exit interview with reporters, Kyle Shanahan let it be known that Sorensen is still under contract with the 49ers, even if his status is very much up in the air.
“I just told him he is not going to be the defense coordinator,” Shanahan told reporters. “He’s under contract still, and I’m really hoping that he’ll come back, but that’s got to be something he and his family feel good about, too, and the exact role that we end up carving out for him, which I’ll work on here over the next few weeks.”
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… wait what? So Sorensen wasn't fired but is instead being demoted, with the potential to leave the team entirely if he finds a better opportunity? Goodness, what must that be like? Well, after being asked that very question moments later, even Shanahan admitted he wasn't sure, as he'd never been in that situation before at any point during his career.
“I don’t know. I haven’t done it before. I’m sure it is a challenge, it has to do with, is that something that you want to do? Is it something you’re comfortable with? I know our building would be comfortable with it. I know our players would be comfortable with it,” Shanahan told reporters.
“There’s, this was a tough year, but Nick didn’t lose any respect or anything like that from any of our players or our coaches. And I think if you talk to anyone, whether it’s with you guys in the media or it’s just one-on-one, he’s got a lot of respect from people here and everyone does think he’s a good coach. I spent these last two days having exit interviews. It’s been to go through these two days where all I do is just talk to people, and you talk to everybody, lots of good feedback on Nick, and I think the guys would be real excited if he was here next year.”
While Shanahan noted that he could end up being in the running for a new role moving forward, be that as the 49ers' new special teams coordinator – a role he filled in Jacksonville back in 2021 – or back as a defensive assistant focusing on the passing game like he was in 2023, whether Sorensen ends up sticking in San Francisco remains to be seen, especially depending on which coordinator the team ends up hiring to take his place.
