Nick Sorenson and Brandon Staley were the first to interview with coach Kyle Shanahan for the 49ers' defensive coordinator job.
Clearly, Shanahan was duly impressed. He is said to be planning to hire both of them.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Sorensen, 45, will be promoted to defensive coordinator after two years as a 49ers assistant. The coordinator position opened when Shanahan fired Steve Wilks three days after the 49ers' Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sorensen, Played 10 NFL seasons On defense, he will work closely with Staley, a former Los Angeles Chargers coach. Staley, 41, will reportedly join the 49ers staff as an assistant head coach.
The 49ers' takeaways have skyrocketed over the past two seasons with Sorensen's staff. He was tasked with coming up with ways to emphasize creating turnovers, and the 49ers excelled in that area, with 42 interceptions while surrendering 40 touchdown passes.
Staley met with Shanahan and 49ers general manager John Lynch for an interesting interview. Shanahan and Lynch first spent time with Staley in August 2021, when the 49ers and Chargers spent two days in Costa Mesa for a joint practice leading up to their preseason game.
Shanahan and Lynch were impressed with Staley's knowledge of the game and the way he presented his perspective. After three seasons as the Chargers head coach, Staley will work closely with Shanahan in all areas.
Former 49ers' assistant head coach, Anthony Lynn, He was hired last month Dan Quinn to join staff with Washington Commanders as sports coordinator.
After participating in interviews in Santa Clara, Lynch traveled to Indianapolis this week for the NFL scouting combine. He outlined what the 49ers are looking for from their new defensive coordinator.
“We love who we are and what we do for safety,” Lynch said Tuesday. “I think we don't want some wholesale deviation from that. We like the style we play, an attacking four-down front.
“Having said that, I think you always have to evolve, and you see an opportunity like this to look at different ways we can evolve. Often, a lot of these ideas come up in these interviews.
Staley served on his staff in Chicago and Denver under former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Rams hired Staley as defensive coordinator in 2020. He stayed there for one season before landing the Chargers head coaching job. Staley compiled a 24-25 record over three seasons, including 0-1 in the playoffs.
Sorenson's promotion from 49ers passing game specialist/nickel backs coach ends a 17-day search for a new defensive coordinator. The 49ers also interviewed defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks, Kansas City defensive backs coach Dave Merritt and Las Vegas defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander.
Sorensen became a defensive coordinator for the first time. He was hired by the 49ers as a defensive assistant in 2022 and was promoted to defensive passing game/nickel backs coach last season.
Sorenson appeared in 134 games over 10 seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns. He served as a backup safety and special-teams contributor.
He came to the 49ers after spending one season as the special teams coordinator in Jacksonville.
Sorenson began his NFL coaching career in 2013 with eight seasons on Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle. He started as a special teams assistant, then moved to secondary coach (2017-19) and secondary coach/nickel specialist in 2020. He worked with the Seahawks under defensive coordinators Chris Richard and Ken Norton.
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