After being in the lead position, the San Francisco 49ers’ last-minute defensive failure let Patrick Mahomes make a heroic run that let him inch closer to Tom Brady while leading the Kansas City Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowl winners. While the Super Bowl LVIII strengthened Andy Reid’s future, the same game snatched the job of the 49ers DC Steve Wilks.
Nevertheless, former NFL player Emmanuel Acho is not ready to see the fired defensive coordinator shoulder all the blame. Rather, he pointed his gun at the 49ers’ HC Kyle Shanahan.
49ers fire DC Steve Wilks
After mostly escaping from queries on Tuesday about whether Steve Wilks would serve the defensive coordinator role of the 49ers for a second season, Kyle Shanahan revealed that the 49ers fired Wilks on Wednesday.
A change in San Francisco: Steve Wilks is out as the 49ers defensive coordinator. pic.twitter.com/atNB1ConXy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 14, 2024
In a conference call, Shanahan shared the reason for sacking the DC to make a coaching change but shared his utmost praise for the fired personnel.
“[We’re] going to end up making a change here at defensive coordinator. A really tough decision, because [it] really says nothing about Steve as a man or as a football coach. I mean, he’s exactly what we wanted as a man. He is a great football coach.”
Under Wilks’ leadership, the 49ers demonstrated a robust regular season defensively, ranking eighth in yards allowed per game and third in points allowed per game. Despite this, their Super Bowl performance unfortunately cost him his job just after one season.
This marks the third instance of Wilks losing his job in the NFL. Initially, he was dismissed as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals after a challenging 3-13 season in 2018. In 2022, he assumed the role of interim head coach for the Carolina Panthers following Matt Rhule’s departure. Despite achieving a 6-6 record as the interim coach, Wilks was released at the conclusion of the season.
Emmanuel Acho goes off on Kyle Shanahan
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho expressed strong disapproval of Kyle Shanahan’s choice to dismiss defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, labeling it as a move to make Wilks the scapegoat for the team’s shortcomings.
Acho accused Shanahan of squandering a season and questioned the logic behind hiring Wilks if he disagreed with his strategic approach, particularly in “blitzing” situations.
“Kyle Shanahan got me heated. Shanahan, you wasted a season… Blitzing is what Steve Wilks does. If you didn’t want Wilks to blitz, then why’d you hire him? Then the Super Bowl, biggest stage, everybody watching in the biggest moment. You call a timeout to question Steve Wilks. You never believed in the dude in the first place, now you’re gonna fire him.”
I had to sound off on Kyle Shanahan firing Steve Wilks. I apologize for the passion 🤬@49ers pic.twitter.com/AwpOTc7Upk
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) February 14, 2024
Later, the former NFL player urged the 49ers coach to make more informed decisions in his coaching hires. He stated the need to align coaching choices with the talents of the team’s All-Pro players and to hire someone whom he truly believes to achieve success.
“Shanahan, you got to know what you’re doing before you do it. You can’t just be hiring dudes all willy nilly. When you got All-Pros all over the defense, you’re wasting their careers. Hire somebody that you believe in, and go get the job done,” Acho said.
Though Shanahan blamed Steve Wilks for the 49ers Super Bowl performance, under Wilks’ leadership the team finished in the top 10 for total sacks and second in interceptions.
Don’t you think it was too early to take a decision on the defensive coordinator instead of giving him one more chance?
