49ers Promote Assistant Coach to Defensive Coordinator, Add Brandon Staley to Staff, per Report

With the NFL Combine underway and the start of the new league year fast approaching, the San Francisco 49ers briefly turned their attention to their coaching staff early Saturday morning. 

San Francisco reportedly plans to promote defensive passing game specialist Nick Sorensen to the role of defensive coordinator, and add former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley to the coaching staff, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. 

For a second straight offseason, the 49ers, who watched 2022 defensive play caller DeMeco Ryans accept a head coaching position with the Houston Texans last offseason, then fired 2023 defensive coordinator Steve Wilks three days after the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February, had to replace a key coach on the defense. 

This time, San Francisco seems inclined to make the hire internally with Sorensen, an NFL coach since 2013 who joined the 49ers' staff as a defensive assistant in 2022. He was promoted to the role of defensive passing game and nickels coach in 2023.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has an impressive track record with defensive coordinator hires, as the likes of Robert Saleh and Ryans both departed San Francisco to accept head coaching positions with the New York Jets and Texans, respectively, after calling plays for San Francisco's defense. 

Meanwhile, Staley joins the 49ers staff after a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw his Chargers team stumble to a five-win season, resulting in his firing back in December. Prior to his tenure as Chargers coach, Staley was the defensive coordinator for a 2020 Los Angeles Rams team that finished first in points and yards allowed. 

Schefter reports that Staley will have a "prominent staff role" with the 49ers.