San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has done a fantastic job this season. Despite a number of injuries, the Niners are allowing just 18.6 points per game, and one could even argue that Morris has done a better job than Robert Saleh, who came back for one season to reprise his position in 2025.
The Niners have had a different defensive coordinator every season since 2023, and that lack of continuity certainly helps explain some of the inconsistent play we’ve seen from the unit in recent years.
Amid the defense'shot start, there's been talk about whether Morris will join the list of Kyle Shanahan's one-and-done coordinators.
Morris recently addressed whether he has ambitions to become a head coach again and said the following to reporters:
“We’ve got this illusion in our head that everybody is a head coach. Guys, there are 32 head coaches in the National Football League. There are 32 defensive coordinators, and there are 32 offensive coordinators, and there's 32 of everything we do.”
49ers have been burned too many times to fully believe in Morris' words
Some interpreted the comments as Morris expressing his gratitude for where he’s at. He may be claiming he doesn’t have any ambitions of becoming a head coach again in the near future, but there was similar speculation last season with Saleh. Then he took the first opening available to coach the Tennessee Titans, where he’s now 1-5.
Perhaps Saleh’s struggles can serve as something of a cautionary tale for Morris. The grass isn’t necessarily always greener on the other side, especially when you go from a well-run organization like the 49ers to a poorly run one.
No one can truly blame coordinators for jumping at the first job available, though. They don’t know if their name will come up in the next head coach cycle, so there has to be a part of them that feels they have no other choice but to accept an opportunity when it comes along.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he hopes Morris will stay defensive coordinator a long time. He and Morris have been friends and have worked together before. Shanahan said the same thing about Saleh,though, and general manager John Lynch said that the Niners would do everything they could to bring him back, and look how that turned out.
Even if Morris is saying the right things now, there are no guarantees. If San Francisco has one of the better defenses this season, then there’s a decent chance teams will at least want to interview him for head coaching vacancies. It would be great if he decides to stay, but the Saleh saga from last year shows that may not be realistic.
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