How the 49ers Defense Will Change Under New DC Raheem Morris

What an intriguing hire.

The 49ers plan to name former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris their next defensive coordinator, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Morris will replace Robert Saleh, who recently became the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

Morris, 49, brings a ton of experience, as he has been a head coach twice, and he won a Super Bowl as the defensive coordinator for the Rams in 2021. He's an excellent addition, much better than assistant head coach Gus Bradley, who was the top internal candidate for the defensive coordinator position, according to Kyle Shanahan. That's because Bradley runs the same system as Saleh -- a four-down front with a Wide-9 alignment, minimal blitzing, and lots of soft zone coverage.

Tennessee Titans new head coach Robert Saleh fields questions by the media at the new head coach’s introductory press confere — DENNY SIMMONS / THE TENNESSEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Morris has a much different system and philosophy than those two. Morris generally coaches a 3-4 base defense with a five-man front. And he's much more aggressive than Saleh and Bradley. In 2025, Morris' defense in Atlanta rushed more than four defenders more than 34 percent of the time the opponent dropped back to pass, as opposed to the 49ers, who brought more than 4 rushers just 15 percent of the time in 2025.

It's probably safe to assume that Morris will continue to bring lots of pressure now that he's coaching the 49ers, which indicates that Shanahah is evolving. For almost 10 years, he has insisted on running the Pete Carroll defense, which is stale and vanilla. And the 49ers need some creative blitzes, because they had the worst pass rush in the NFL last season.

If the 49ers let Morris run the defense the way he wants to run it and hire the position coaches of his choosing, he should be a success. But if they force him to keep the Wide 9 and don't let him bring any position coaches with him, then they'll be setting him up to fail, the way they set up Steve Wilks to fail three years ago.

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks against the Arizona Cardinals at — Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Remember, the 49ers hired Wilks to run their defensive scheme even though he didn't know it. He had to learn it and coach it at the same time. And they fired him after just one season.

Shame on the 49ers if they make that mistake twice. I'd like to think they learned their lesson and plan to do things differently this time around. They're overdue for a change on defense, and Morris is the man to lead the evolution.

Let him do his thing.

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