When asked about defensive coordinator Steve Wilks returning for 2025, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t provide a clear, unequivocal, unconditional response. And that might have happened for a reason.
As explained by Tim Kawakami of TheAthletic.com, Wilks could be in jeopardy — if the 49ers believe they can find an upgrade.
Kawakami notes that the 49ers gave up, on average, 149 rushing yards in their three postseason games.
“That’s not the way Shanahan and Lynch want things to go in the biggest games,” Kawakami writes. “That’s not how the 49ers are built to play. They’re supposed to win games with physicality, yet they got outrushed in all three of their playoff games.”
Again, it all comes down to who they could get. Perhaps, as Kawakami points out, Wilks will get another year and, if it doesn’t work in New York in 2024, Robert Saleh could be available to return for 2025.
Regardless, when Shanahan is asked whether Wilks will be back next year and the first thing out of his mouth isn’t “hell yes” but "“I haven’t talked to anybody yet,” that’s cause for paying attention to what happens in the coming days.