Kyle Shanahan provided some insight into what he will look for in his next 49ers defensive coordinator.
Shanahan confirmed at a press conference with local reporters Wednesday that defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen will not return to his role in 2025, and shared what will go into his search for a replacement.
"I'm looking for a guy who will fit with our team the best," Shanahan said. "I like to sit and talk to guys about personnel, I want to obviously talk to about their plans schematically and what they like to do, and that's all great, but what do you plan to do with our team? And that's what involves certain people, in terms of when they look at what we have, what we need going forward, what we've got to go get.
"I want someone that meshes with what I believe in, but I also believe in you've got to fit to come up with the best thing possible that fits our situation right now. So that'll be talking about our personnel, the roster, a lot of things like that and what their plan would be with it."
Sorensen spent three seasons with the 49ers, but was a first-year defensive coordinator in 2024. While Shanahan values experience in his search for a replacement, he wants to keep all options on the table.
"Yeah, I think some of the stuff, where we're at and some of the decisions we've got to make and things like that, having the experience of going through this before and building things before I think is definitely a bonus for me, it helps me with some stuff, so that's stuff I will look into," Shanahan explained.
"Regardless, you don't just want to put any handcuffs on your decision, you're going to always try and figure out the best one. So you've got ideas going into that, but this being so early I'm going to have an opportunity to talk to a number of guys, so we'll see what that leads us to."
San Francisco 49ers
While Shanahan still is a believer in the 4-3 defensive scheme the 49ers have run over the years, he admitted he is "open to anything" his next coordinator might want to tweak, including changing schemes.
"I love the scheme that we've had here. I think it's one of the hardest things to go to when you've got the right guys in the right spots," Shanahan added. "But I do think people adjust to schemes, and you have to adjust too, depending on your personnel. And I think that was a tougher thing for us this year, just going into the season, it was a little bit harder than past seasons and some of the injuries we had made it really tough for Nick.
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"And I thought he got better trying to adjust and do different things, but I do think that's something that, I'm not saying you have to change schemes, but you have to have the ability, the history and the knowledge of how to change some stuff up when you're in some certain situations and I think that we do need that more going forward."
It remains to be seen which external candidates the 49ers will interview for the position, however, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported Wednesday, citing sources, that San Francisco plans to offer former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh his old position.
One internal candidate who Shanahan confirmed will interview for the job is assistant head coach Brandon Staley, who helped coach the 49ers' defense alongside Sorensen this season.
