Kyle Shanahan labeled as 'coward' by 49ers fans after firing Steve Wilks: "This is nasty work," "Scapegoating at its finest"

Steve Wilks became the fall guy after the San Francisco 49ers lost Super Bowl 58 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The defensive coordinator was fired after one season with the reigning National Football Conference champions.

However, several football personalities and fans are questioning this move by the 49ers front office and head coach Kyle Shanahan. Former NFL defensive end Al Wallace quoted ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter’s tweet about Wilks’s firing and commented:

“Said it when Wilks was hired to replace DeMeco Ryans, he should have never taken that job. This is so weak. Kyle Shanahan is a coward.”

Steve Wilks replaced DeMeco Ryans, the Niners defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, The Atlantic contributing writer Jemele Hill posted:

“This is nasty work. SF loses Dre Greenlaw during the game, and gives up 19 points to KC in regulation. I get that this firing probably isn’t about one game, but they don’t make this move if SF wins.”

Here are other reactions regarding Steve Wilks’ firing on X, formerly Twitter:

As most commenters argued, Steve Wilks became the scapegoat after losing another Super Bowl to the Chiefs despite an early double-digit lead. However, there are two sides to this conversation.

On one end, Wilks and the 49ers defense limited the Chiefs to 19 points in regulation. Seven points came on a short field after a muffed punt return. Likewise, San Francisco’s defense struggled when Dre Greenlaw got injured while returning to the field from the sideline.

Greenlaw’s replacement, Oren Burks, did more damage to the Niners’ cause. The touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling sailed above his hands. Burks allowed nine catches in as many targets.

Conversely, the 49ers offense ended with zero points after two Chiefs turnovers. They scored only 19 points in regulation despite having Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, who caught a touchdown pass from Jauan Jennings.

However, as "The 33rd Team" pointed out, Steve Wilks’s defense allowed 25.7 points per game in the playoffs, eight more than their regular season average.

If not for McCaffrey’s last-minute touchdown against the Green Bay Packers and the 49ers’ comeback against the Detroit Lions, they might have never played in Super Bowl 58.

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Super Bowl performances of Steve Wilks’s former boss receive criticism

While Steve Wilks’ defense struggled in their previous playoff games, Shanahan’s Super Bowl performances received intense scrutiny. Aside from scoring 22 points in Super Bowl 58, he had a 20-10 lead against the Chiefs with one quarter left in Super Bowl 54.

Worst yet, Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons squad that lost Super Bowl 51 to the New England Patriots despite having a 28-3 lead with 8:31 left in the third quarter.