The NFL Scouting Combine starts next Thursday, and the 49ers still haven’t hired a defensive coordinator yet, so they should probably get on that.
Until they do, pundits will speculate as to whom the 49ers will hire to fill the position. Recently, The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami guessed that the 49ers will hire New York Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Ulbrich would seem to appeal to the 49ers for a few reasons.
He coaches under Robert Saleh, who coached for the 49ers, which means Ulbrich is familiar with and has experience coaching the 49ers’ Wide 9 defensive scheme.
2. He was a linebacker and a linebackers coach, like DeMeco Ryans, who was the 49ers defensive coordinator after Saleh, who also was a linebackers coach earlier in his career.
3. Ulbrich is from the Bay Area, he went to San Jose State for one year (he redshirted) and he played for the 49ers for 10 seasons, so he might want to work for them.
Of course, the Jets don’t have to let Ulbrich leave for a lateral move. But the 49ers just let assistant head coach Anthony Lynn go to the Washington Commanders, which means the 49ers could hire Ulbrich as their assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and give him a big raise.
The only problem with this potential move is that it might ruin the relationship between Saleh and Kyle Shanahan, considering Saleh is in his fourth season with the Jets and could get fired if he misses the playoffs next season. Would Shanahan really poach his friend’s defensive coordinator and leave him in a lurch?
I guess we’ll find out.
