Why Always Scapegoating Black NFL Coaches – With Kyle Shanahan and Steve Wilks in Mind
It was said that the former defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers was “not the right fit.” What does that mean specifically?
Coaches are sacked and players are cut. Within the National Football League, that is the norm.
Even though I know this intellectually, I’m still upset at how 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan publicly blamed defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory over San Francisco more than a week later.
Shanahan met with local reporters two days after San Francisco’s 25-22 overtime loss and stated that he anticipated having his staff return. One day later, Shanahan abruptly revealed Wilks’s dismissal after just one season during a hurried conference call.
“It just ended up not being the right fit,” was Shanahan’s rationale.
What exactly does that mean?
An NFC championship game defeat for the 49ers preceded Wilks’s return to the Super Bowl with San Francisco. Wilks was healthy enough to keep the 49ers among the NFL’s top defensive teams.
Which irritates me more, the 44-year-old Shanahan firing the 54-year-old Wilks, or the fact that the 54-year-old Wilks, who was regarded throughout the league as an exceptional, no-nonsense defensive mind, had received yet another bad deal? likely a little bit of both.
Historically, black NFL coaches have had less latitude than their white colleagues. Only this season, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni fired his two assistant coaches in an attempt to explain the team’s late-season collapse. Before Wilks made his way back to the Super Bowl with San Francisco, the 49ers had lost in the NFC title game. Wilks was able to maintain the 49ers’ position as one of the best defensive teams in the NFL.
Which pisses me off more, that 54-year-old Wilks, who was thought of by everyone in the league as a superb, no-nonsense defensive thinker, had gotten another raw deal, or 44-year-old Shanahan firing the 54-year-old Wilks? probably a small amount of both.
Following 23 seasons as a coach, Wilks’ arduous ascent to the top of the coaching hierarchy was crowned in 2018 when he was appointed head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He was only around for one season. Following a 3-13 season, Wilks lost his job.
Wilks stated in his follow-up complaint that the Cardinals never thought of him as a long-term solution. As the defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach for the Carolina Panthers, Wilks made his way back to his hometown of Charlotte in 2022. In 2022, he was appointed as Matt Rhule’s temporary head coach following his dismissal after five games. In its last 12 games, Wilks led the squad to a 6-6 record.
The head job did not go to him. Frank Reich received that. After Reich was dismissed by Panthers owner David Tepper after 11 games this season, Wilks moved to San Francisco.
