49ers set to promote Nick Sorensen as new defensive coordinator

San Francisco has decided on who will lead its defense in 2024.

The 49ers are set to hire defensive passing game/nickel cornerbacks coach Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Saturday, per sources.

Sorensen succeeds Steve Wilks, who the club parted ways with after one season despite San Francisco’s run to Super Bowl LVIII. The 49ers finished the 2023 season third in both rushing yards (89.7) and points allowed per game (17.5).

The hiring of Sorensen figures to maintain continuity along a defense led by pass rusher Nick Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner and cornerback Charvarius Ward. But general manager John Lynch will have work to do this offseason in preserving that great defense with Chase Young, Javon Kinlaw and Tashaun Gipson set to become free agents.

Sorensen, 45, arrived in San Francisco in 2022 as a defensive assistant and has been coaching in the league since 2013. Beginning in Seattle as an assistant special teams coach, Sorensen helped groom a Seahawks unit that went on to win Super Bowl XLVIII and he remained with the club through the 2020 season, holding assistant defensive backs coach and secondary coach titles along the way. Sorensen went to Jacksonville to become a special teams coordinator before joining the 49ers.