The 49ers Should Hire Daniel Bullocks as their Defensive Coordinator

The right man for the job is on the staff already.

The 49ers can interview as many candidates for their vacant defensive coordinator position as they'd like. And after they've gathered all the information, they should promote defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks.

Frankly, they should have promoted him last season instead of hiring Steve Wilks. I assume the 49ers felt Bullocks wasn't quite ready and wanted someone with more experience.

But the 49ers' never valued Wilks' experience. They told him what to do at every turn. Told him what to call and where to stand. They neutered him, and the players noticed, and so they never bought in even though he's a good coach and a smart man.

Any coach the 49ers bring in from the outside to replace Wilks will suffer his fate. Because was hired for his defensive acumen, but ultimately fired for not knowing the 49ers' defensive scheme well enough and not motivating the players to play hard.

Which means the next defensive coordinator's defensive acumen won't matter. The team already knows what it wants to do on defense. The players don't want to be coached. Fred Warner and Nick Bosa essentially are coaches on the field.

The players simply want a coach who knows them and knows the scheme. And that's Bullocks. He's been with the 49ers as long as Shanahan, and the players rave about him. He'll get them to give their best effort, and when they do that, they're hard to beat.

I expect the 49ers will hire Bullocks soon.