The Clear Best Candidate for 49ers Defensive Coordinator

This is a no-brainer.

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The San Francisco 49ers have interviewed three known candidates for their defensive coordinator job. While they may end up looking into more options, these were three of the most expected names to interview for the job, and there is a good chance that one of the first three names they called on ends up getting the job.

As it stands right now, there is one that stands out a little more than the others. Between Raheem Morris, Gus Bradley, and Joe Woods, the clear best candidate is Morris. 

Should the San Francisco 49ers hire Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator?

Joe Woods comes in with familiarity with Kyle Shanahan. He got his coaching start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Kyle Shanahan was a young coach on the staff as well. The two linked back up in 2019, when he was an assistant for the 49ers. However, he has not been great since then. 

The Browns moved on from him, hired Jim Schwartz, and watched their defense excel. He went from Cleveland to New Orleans, but did not call plays under Dennis Allen. Last year, he handled passing down duties for the Las Vegas Raiders, and while their secondary had some of the worst personnel in the NFL, he obviously was not propping them up, either. 

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Gus Bradley is another coach with familiarity with the defense. He joined the 49ers as an assistant coach last year, so there would not be much change going on with Bradley installed. There is also the risk that he leaves and does not want to coach with a new coordinator. However, Bradley has had three chances at defensive coordinator since his last head coaching stint, and none of them have ended well. The Colts' defense improved without him last year. It is hard to see how much he changed in one season. 

Raheem Morris won 16 games with Kirk Cousins coming off an Achilles injury and an injury-prone Michael Penix, who has proven little in the NFL. This was largely because his defense was coached well. His last stint with the Los Angeles Rams was highly successful, which is why he got a second chance as a head coach.

Morris has the same familiarity as Joe Woods and has a better resume as a head coach and coordinator compared to Bradley. He runs a similar defense as Robert Saleh, but has enough wrinkles that a chance for upgrade is possible. 

If there are only three candidates, one is a strong choice, and the other two are not.