Steve Wilks’ roller coaster season as the 49ers defensive coordinator ends at Super Bowl

Steve Wilks' roller coaster season as the 49ers defensive coordinator ends at Super Bowl | | eagletribune.com

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks speaks to reporters after a practice at the team’s NFL football training facility in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The 49ers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

The Niners led the NFL in points allowed (16.3 per game), yards allowed (300.6 per game) and were tied for second in takeaways (30) last season under Ryans, going all the way to the NFC title game for the second straight season.

The numbers this season dropped off only marginally with the 49ers allowing 1.2 more points per game, 3.3 more yards per game and generating two fewer takeaways.

“It was stressful in the beginning of the year,” Bosa said. “It seemed like everybody was coming after him. I kind of felt for him because it’s not one guy’s fault ever in football.”

A win in the Super Bowl would be a measure of validation for Wilks, who was passed over a little more than a year ago for the head coaching job in Carolina despite a 6-6 run as interim coach.

Wilks then joined the Niners staff, while the Panthers had a 2-15 season and fired coach Frank Reich after 11 games.

Despite reaching the Super Bowl stage, Wilks’ unit is still under fire after two lackluster performances in the playoffs, including allowing 182 yards rushing in the NFC title game win against Detroit that featured a handful of plays, including a 15-yard run by Jahmyr Gibbs, where some players were seen giving less than maximum effort.

Steve Wilks' roller coaster season as the 49ers defensive coordinator ends at Super Bowl – Butler Eagle

“I can tell you as a defense it’s unacceptable,” Wilks said. “We’ve got to make sure that we play every down as if it’s going to be the difference in the ballgame. You could see on those particular plays, it wasn’t to our standard. Those guys understand and know that and quite honestly it was embarrassing.”

Those thoughts were echoed all week by coach Kyle Shanahan, general manager John Lynch and defensive players such as 2022 AP Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner.

“Not good enough. Not good enough at all,” Warner said. “The standard has been what it has been for as long as I’ve been here. We rely heavily on winning games heavily on defense, holding teams to minimal points, suffocating teams, dictating how the game’s going to go based off how we go. That hasn’t been the case last few games.”