The San Francisco 49ers have something of a history turning linebackers coaches into defensive coordinators, and those coordinators have a bit of a history becoming head coaches elsewhere.
Perhaps the Niners are now preparing one of their assistant coaches, K.J. Wright, for the same pipeline.
Wright, who spent 11 years in the league as a linebacker with both the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders, joined San Francisco's coaching staff two years ago as a defensive quality control assistant, putting his playing-days expertise to good use.
On Monday, the 49ers officially announced his promotion to linebackers coach, along with several other promotions and coaching changes.
If Wright masters his next role, there's a chance bigger and better things will ultimately await him.
49ers can hope KJ Wright follows similar path as Robert Saleh, DeMeco Ryans
Niners fans may recall how now-Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh rose through the ranks with various teams, primarily focusing on linebackers, eventually becoming a defensive coordinator with the Niners in 2017 when head coach Kyle Shanahan took over.
Saleh's success ultimately landed him two separate head-coaching gigs, first with the New York Jets and then with Tennessee after his one-year return to the Bay Area as coordinator in 2025.
But the closer comparison might be now-Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, who replaced Saleh as coordinator in 2021 after being San Francisco's linebackers coach previously, then serving in the coordinating capacity for two seasons prior to accepting Houston's head-coaching job in 2023.
The 49ers already hired former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris to replace Saleh this offseason, yet there's an excellent chance Morris winds up getting another shot to be a head coach in the not-too-distant future, provided his Niners defenses perform well.
If that's the case, San Francisco might already have a succession plan in place with Wright as the heir apparent.