Asked how he felt about Sorensen this week, Shanahan didn’t hesitate.
“I’m very satisfied with Nick,” he said. “I’m not at all satisfied with the results and how it’s going right now. But some of the mistakes that we’ve made … I don’t think it’s a schematic issue. It’s a little bit more of a fundamental issue. And that also starts with me. That goes to all coaching, and it goes down to the players, it goes to everyone in this building. But the results here these last two weeks haven’t changed my opinion on Nick.”
It’s similar to what Shanahan said in 2018 when fans were calling for then-coordinator Robert Saleh’s job.
“We need to improve a lot,”
Shanahan told The Athletic at the time. “We’ll improve our coaching. We’ll improve our players. But just because we’re facing some adversity, and every time someone misses a tackle or every time there’s a busted coverage, that’s not a reason for me to think all of a sudden a guy doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Saleh survived the 2018 season — with an asterisk. Before the 2019 season, Shanahan hired defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, a specialist in the Wide 9 defensive front. Doing so wasn’t exactly a reproach of Saleh. But it was a shake-up for Saleh’s system and an indication that Shanahan wasn’t satisfied with what he’d been seeing.
(...)
The second point is that even if Shanahan thinks Sorensen is doing a fine job, it doesn’t mean he won’t make a change.
Saleh, fired by the
New York Jets on Oct. 8, presumably will be available in the offseason. And it’s possible that Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets defensive coordinator who became interim head coach when Saleh left, will be looking for a job as well.
The 49ers were very interested in Ulbrich during the most recent hiring cycle. (The Jets were decidedly less interested in allowing them to interview Ulbrich.) He runs the system Shanahan prefers, is a former 49er and is from the San Jose area. He has the vibrant personality that perhaps the understated Sorensen lacks. Most of all, he’s a FOK (friend of Kyle) from their days coaching with the
Atlanta Falcons.
