The 49ers could benefit from hearing the same voice at defensive coordinator year over year
Initially, this would have been about how Nick Sorensen should keep his spot as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator despite his shortcomings and the defense’s late-season collapse.
I would have defended this angle by mentioning how, yes, it looked rough, but that’s what happens when you place a first-time coordinator in such a high-profile spot as the defensive coordinator of the defending NFC champions. Even with the struggles, the first year would be used as a base to grow Sorensen, allowing him to team with Brandon Staley with time to develop into a better coordinator.
Kyle Shanahan didn’t reward Sorensen with that patience, removing the first-year defensive coordinator from his post last week. Now, the 49ers are tasked with finding a fourth defensive coordinator in as many years (by the time you read this, it’s possible Robert Saleh passed his grueling interview process to reclaim his defensive coordinator title). So, what went wrong for Sorensen?
The short of the long is that the 49ers’ defense was bad. Under Steve Wilks, the 2023 version of the defense was a top-ten unit in most categories: points against, yards, turnover percentage, and rushing yards, just to name a few. But despite the success, something felt off between the players and Wilks, and because of that, Wilks was removed after one season.
Sorensen was promoted from within the organization to fix that disconnect with the players. The players seemed to like Sorensen, but the results were much worse. While there were some positives in the transition from Wilks—mainly the improvement in the passing game, where the 49ers were 14th against the pass in 2023 and fifth in 2024—the regression in the run game, the lack of turnovers, and ultimately, too many points allowed Sorensen in.
The 49ers were stout against the run in 2023, allowing less than 100 rushing yards in 11 regular season games. That number dropped to seven in 2024, with the run defense collapsing in the last half of the season, allowing 100 or more rushing yards seven times in the final nine games, allowing 150 or more yards in five of those seven games.
The 49ers’ defense was successful in 2023 because of its ability to force turnovers. The 28 turnovers forced were fifth in the league, and their 22 interceptions led the league. Wilks’ defense forced a turnover on 15.5 percent of drives, which was second-best in the league. That percentage dropped to nine percent under Sorensen, the 21st-best in the NFL. That drop-off resulted in 17 turnovers and 11 interceptions, a far cry from the number in 2023.
Ultimately, those struggles resulted in the 2024 49ers allowing way more points than the previous years. Interestingly, the San Francisco defense allowed only slightly more yards than in 2023. Wilks’ 49ers defense allowed 5,167 yards (about 304 yards per game), whereas Sorensen’s defense allowed 5,396 (about 15 more yards per game, at 317.4).
While the yardage is close, the points allowed are not. Wilks allowed a score on 33.9 percent of drives, resulting in the 49ers’ defense allowing 298 points (17.5 per game), which was second-best in the league. Under Sorensen, that score percentage skyrocketed to 44.4 percent, with San Francisco allowing 436 points (25.6 per game), the third-most in the league. The 436 points allowed by Sorensen’s defense was the fourth-most in franchise history, and the most a 49ers defense had allowed since 2017 when it allowed a franchise record of 480 points.
The right move could have been to keep Wilks and hope that continued success would improve the feelings between the coordinator and the defense. Instead, the 49ers panicked and removed Wilks in favor of Sorensen, and now, San Francisco must again fill the position. Whoever that may be (again, Saleh might be appointed by the time you read this), Shanahan and John Lynch need to find somebody who can add stability and stay a few years, if anything, to add stability to an ever-rotating coaching staff.
While the defense gave up plenty of points, the constant losing of the field position battle never helped. As our series continues, we can’t talk about the defensive struggles of 2024 without mentioning the special teams, and we will do just that tomorrow.