Santa Clara 49er owner Jed York was reportedly so furious after another Super Bowl loss he demanded immediate changes.
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Shanahan had no choice but to fire somebody on his staff. Steve Wilks was the necessary scapegoat. Shanny and the rest of us remember how York shived Harbaugh when times got tough.
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I'm not sure if sacrificing Wilks will be enough to satisfy York. Likely more big changes are coming to Santa Clara in the coming weeks. York has to be shopping for Shanahan's replacement, just in case 2024 goes sideways. Last chance!
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Ram fans chewing down a lotta sour grapes lately
Bosa and other members of the starting D-line had serious issues with some of the D-line sets all year, and after the SB, Bosa stated he felt the D-line had not been properly coached for the Chiefs O-sets.
Wilks was a backfield specialist, and wasn't Shanahan's first choice last year after losing two great D coaches to becoming head coaches elsewhere two years in a row, and after losing back to back games to blown backfield coverage, moved Wilks out of the booth onto the sidelines after the DB's complained they weren't getting timely d- sets.
And during the SB the backfield missed four critical assignments...the safeties were supposed to 'guard' against both Mahomes runs which killed them, a D-back literally quit running on the longest pass play by the Chiefs in the game, and on the winning touchdown drive in the last 4 seconds the receiver went free because both the safety and corner bit on the same decoy.
Bottom line is Shanahan and Wilks never synched, and GM Lynch, one hell of a safety during his career, was unhappy with Wilks throughout the year. Late in the year, however, to be selecting a new D coach, best of breed having already moved on. So Shanahan will likely move someone on staff up, or grab a prominsg D coaching prospect like he did with Robert Saleh and Demeco Ryans.
Winning a SB is tough...ask Jim Kelly and Buffalo who lost four straight.
