Why DC Steve Wilks Will Likely Stay With 49ers After This Season
Arguably the best skill that Kyle Shanahan has is building a coaching staff.
Every year the 49ers have a coach that gets requested for an interview and then poached by another team. This year it is looking like defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is going to be that coach.
Wilks has already been requested by the Chargers to interview for their head coaching vacancy. It is surely an interview that Wilks would like to take, and this probably not going to be his only interview either. Or at least, the Chargers won't be the only team that is interested in him.
However, I don't foresee Wilks becoming a head coach. I think it is likely that Wilks stays with the 49ers after this season by his own desire. Wilks has done a lot of jumping around in the last seven years. From 2018 to now, he has been one and done with so many teams. He even dabbled in college for one year at the University of Missouri in 2021. I get the sense that Wilks is extremely tired of that, and that continuity is something he craves.
At least, I think he would want that for another season before taking up as a head coach for another team. The chances are likely that he will continue to get interviews from other teams next year as well to be a head coach. That usually is the case when you're a coordinator for the 49ers. And for all we know, Wilks doesn't even want to be a head coach. Maybe he is content and settled with where he is at. Life is good for him with the 49ers as defensive coordinator.
This has to be one of his favorite, if not THE favorite tenures of his career. He gets to call a defense with immense talent on a Super Bowl contending team. The last time he got to do that was when he was a defensive backs coach with the Panthers in 2015 when they went to the Super Bowl. At this stage of his career, settling for a while is probably what is best for him and what he wants.
