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Will Nick Sorensen be One and Done as the 49ers' Defensive Coordinator?

No pressure, Nick.

Grant Cohn

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen holds a press conference before the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen holds a press conference before the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports
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Nick Sorensen didn't seem to be the 49ers' first choice to replace Steve Wilks as their defensive coordinator.

The 49ers could have promoted Sorensen to defensive coordinator last season -- he was on the staff in 2022 -- but they didn't feel he was ready for the job. That's why they hired Wilks, an outsider.

Then when they fired Wilks, they tried to hire Steve Spagnuolo, but he wisely re-signed with the Chiefs. Then the 49ers seemed interested in Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, but he's still under contract with New York.

So the 49ers (begrudgingly?) promoted Sorensen, a favorite of the players. But they also hired former Rams defensive coordinator and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as assistant head coach, which indicates the 49ers aren't totally confident that Sorensen can do the job by himself.

So if Sorensen struggles in his first season as the 49ers defensive coordinator, will they bring him back for a second season?

It's a fair question because the 49ers fired Steve Wilks after just one season and his defense gave up the third-fewest points in the NFL. So the 49ers have high standards. And halfway through last season, the 49ers were so dissatisfied with Wilks that they made him move from the coach's booth to the sideline during games. In retrospect, if they had someone they could have replaced him with, someone such as Brandon Staley, they probably would have fired him right then and there.

Which means Staley could become the interim defensive coordinator at the bye week if Sorensen has a rocky start. And then someone such as Robert Saleh could become the defensive coordinator next season if he gets fired from his head coaching job.

No pressure, Nick.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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