Fans of the San Francisco 49ers’ bitterest NFC West rivals will be hurt by the addition of a new coach to the team.
During his ‘KJ All Day’ podcast, former linebacker K.J. Wright—a member of the legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ defense and a Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks—announced his decision to join the 49ers’ coaching staff.
Following his retirement as a Seahawk in 2022, Wright will make his coaching debut as an assistant linebackers coach and defensive quality control coach.
“I am thoroughly excited, I am really really happy for this opportunity, I’m really, really happy for the Niners organisation believing in me, trusting me with their franchise,” Wright stated.
“Those guys have been my competitors since the beginning. I remember my father approaching me after my first-ever NFL game, which I saw against the Niners, and asking, “You think that you can play in this league?” “Heck yeah, I know I can play in this league,” I responded. It was against the Niners, and now, thirteen or fourteen years later, I’m going to be coaching them.
“To John Lynch and the 49er supporters, Kyle Shanahan: I’m thrilled and prepared to go. It promises to be incredibly enjoyable.
Wright is a fascinating addition for a number of reasons. He is well acquainted with Nick Sorensen, the 49ers’ new defensive coordinator who took over for the fired Steve Wilks last week. Additionally, San Francisco hired Brandon Staley, the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, to serve as an assistant head coach, a position that will probably have a big impact on the defense.
Two years following Wright’s draft selection, in 2013, Sorensen began his coaching career with the Seahawks. From 2016 until 2020, he was employed by the Seattle defense.
Additionally, Wright’s arrival will provide the Niners with another experienced voice to work with a linebacking corps that struggled to communicate with Wilks during the 2023 campaign. The 49er defense is modeled after the one that former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll ran in Seattle.
Wright will work with linebackers coach Johnny Holland, who has coached the Niners’ linebackers since 2017 but has battled multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer, since 2019.
In Holland, Wright will be learning from one of the most experienced assistant coaches in the game. Holland got his start in coaching with the Green Bay Packers back in 1995.
Wright will collaborate with Johnny Holland, the Niners’ linebackers coach since 2017. However, since 2019, Holland has been battling multiple myeloma, an incurable type of blood cancer.
Wright will get coaching instruction from one of the most seasoned assistant coaches in the league in Holland. In 1995, Holland began serving as a coach for the Green Bay Packers.
The 49ers do a great job of promoting their assistants through the ranks; DeMeco Ryans went from defensive quality control coach to linebackers coach to defensive coordinator in the past, and Sorensen quickly advanced from defensive assistant to coordinator in just two years. Now that he’s off to a good start, Wright will be looking to build on this achievement and become another great story for the team that used to be his fiercest rival.