The San Francisco 49ers have had a bit of a defensive coordinator carousel these last few seasons. 2025 will be the third straight season where the team has a different defensive coordinator, but perhaps this carousel could have been avoided by welcoming back an old face.
49ers beat writer Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard recently threw out an interesting thought on the social media platform X.
He believes a lot of this drama could have been avoided if the 49ers had brought back Vic Fangio as their defensive coordinator after DeMeco Ryans left:
Zero guarantee anything will work out with your team the way it has with another … but …
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) January 13, 2025
49ers probably would feel a lot different now if Shanahan had pushed all in to hire Vic Fangio as DC two years ago.
Were reasons why it didn’t happen but could’ve changed a lot.
Fans will remember Fangio from the head coach Jim Harbaugh years from 2011 to 2014 when Fangio served as the defensive coordinator for the team. Following Harbaugh’s forced exit, Fangio was a candidate to become the next head coach in San Francisco.
Of course, ultimately, the Niners hired defensive line coach Jim Tomsula to succeed Harbaugh which worked out… well, actually it didn’t work out at all because he was fired after one lackluster season.
Kawakami notes that there “were reasons why it didn’t happen” and one has to imagine getting passed over in favor of Tomsula is why a reunion was out of the cards.
It is hard not to imagine what the Niners defense would be like if Fangio was the defensive coordinator the last few seasons. He is widely considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL, and it is possible the Niners could even have a Super Bowl ring if Fangio was the DC last season.
Instead, the 49ers went with Steve Wilks in 2023, and while the defense was not atrocious, there was a feeling it could have been better. So they fired him and replaced him with Nick Sorensen, who only lasted one season as well after the defense regressed.
Now, San Francisco is looking for yet another defensive coordinator. Fangio is not available since he is the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles where they have had one of the best defenses in the NFL. There are other attractive options out there like former Niners DC Robert Saleh and former New York Jets defensive coordinator and interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, who has since joined the Atlanta Falcons as their new coordinator on that side of the ball.
The Niners will probably reel in a good candidate, but Kawakami does raise an interesting point that a reunion with Fangio a few years back could have prevented these defensive coordinator struggles they’ve had these past few seasons and potentially could have even led to San Francisco taking home a title.