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nick wagner
multiple authors
Santa Clara, California — The san francisco 49ers The Giants are hiring Raheem Morris as their new defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday.
Morris will become the team’s fifth coordinator in as many years. He replaced Robert Saleh, who left to become head coach. tennessee titans.
This is the second year in a row the Niners had to wait out the head coaching carousel before landing their guy. Last year, they waited for Saleh with interest jacksonville jaguars And las vegas raiders.
Morris was considered a finalist for Arizona Cardinals Head coaching job, which went to Mike LaFleur Los Angeles Rams‘Offensive coordinator.
Morris and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan are close friends from previous coaching stops at Tampa Bay (2004–05), Washington (2012) and, most recently, Washington (2012). atlanta falcons In 2015-16.
The Niners brought Morris on board after spending the previous two seasons as Atlanta’s head coach. He previously held that position in Tampa Bay from 2009 to 2011.
This will be Morris’ third professional stint as a defensive coordinator, having worked in Atlanta in 2020 and for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021-23.
Morris coordinated the Rams defense that helped win Super Bowl LVI.
Meanwhile, the Niners are looking for some stability at the coordinator position after going from Demeco Ryans to Steve Wilks to Nick Sorensen to Saleh over the past four years.
“I certainly don’t like doing this for the fifth year in a row,” Shanahan said on January 21. “I really want to go on vacation, but these de-coordinators keep making my family wait and getting mad at me for it.”
Star defensive end despite season-ending injuries nick bossa (ACL) and linebacker fred warner (Ankle), Saleh’s defense ranked 13th in points allowed and 20th in yards allowed in 2025.
In his end-of-season press conference, Shanahan indicated that defensive assistant Gus Bradley was the team’s primary internal candidate. Bradley got an interview, but when Morris did not get a head coaching job elsewhere, he moved to the top of the list.
The 49ers also interviewed former Browns, Saints and Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Woods for the position.
