I can’t believe he was let go. Head Coach, San Francisco 49ers.
I just want to get back together with you folks, hello. I know we got together yesterday, but I wasn’t sure which way to go with a few things yesterday, so I wasn’t ready to talk about them just yet. I’ve been thinking about this for a few nights, trying to come up with some difficult choices. However, I dismissed [former defensive coordinator] Steve Wilks of his responsibilities this morning. I’m going to switch around at defensive coordinator at the end. Very difficult choice because it doesn’t really tell anything about Steve’s character as a guy or as a football coach.
He’s the perfect man we’ve always wanted. He coaches football really well.However, considering our team’s direction and current status from a scheme perspective and other aspects, as well as considering the entire year and the past few days, I felt very strongly that this was the right course of action for our company. And even though it was a decision I didn’t want to make, I had to make it after realizing that I believed taking a different path would be better for the organization.
I told him this morning as a result. I apologize for not being able to inform you all yesterday; however, I am now certain. That is true. I wanted to personally inform everyone of you. I’ll now take questions on it.
Is it related that he entered the building from the outside and was unfamiliar with the method that you guys had been using successfully for a long time before this?
Indeed, it was the most difficult aspect. It was a challenge, I knew. It was difficult. Losing [DeMeco [Ryans], the head coach of the Houston Texans, and [Robert Saleh, the head coach of the New York Jets], the year before was extremely difficult. However, we had made a commitment to the players who had already been a part of the system, namely our linebackers and D-Line. They had spent so much time playing in it. So, I wanted to avoid having to make every adjustment possible.And introducing Steve, who was amazing in his loyalty and his attempt to achieve it, but it just didn’t work out. And although I was hurting, I had no choice but to do this.
