SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- As Robert Saleh prepared to depart the San Francisco 49ers for the Tennessee Titans head coaching job this past January, coach Kyle Shanahan made one thing abundantly clear: K.J.
Wright , the Niners defensive quality control coach from 2024 to 2025, was going nowhere. "It was an understanding from the beginning," Saleh said, laughing.
"Off limits." Shanahan making Wright, who turns 37 this month, unavailable was done with two thoughts in mind. First, Shanahan had a short-term plan to promote Wright to linebackers coach.
Second, and perhaps more important, both Saleh and the Niners see Wright as one of the league's brightest young defensive coaches that is on a similar path to Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans -- a former successful NFL linebacker who rose from assistant to coordinator to head coach in relatively short order. "He's going to be a coordinator really quick," Saleh said.
"I could see him easily progressing the way DeMeco did. He's got the same mindset.
He's got the same respect from his players. K.J.'s going to be really good." That Wright now finds himself in a prominent position coach role on San Francisco's staff might seem a bit strange given how he built his resumé as a player.
For 10 seasons (2011-20), Wright was an integral part of the division rival Seattle Seahawks defense, often tormenting the 49ers as part of some of the most memorable defenses in NFL history. From when he entered the league to when he retired after playing the 2021 season with the Las Vegas Raiders , Wright's 985 tackles ranked fifth in the NFL.
He finished with 13.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries and six interceptions as he became one of Seattle's franchise greats. When Wright signed a one-day contract and announced his retirement in a 2022 ceremony in Seattle, he acknowledged he wasn't sure what he wanted to do next, but insisted it wouldn't involve coaching and that he would "serve" the Seahawks organization.
In that first year away from the game, Wright quickly realized he was unfulfilled without it. "When you retire, them days get long," Wright said.
"Every 24 hours feel like 48 hours." With the blessing of his family, Wright began searching for coaching opportunities. Finding the right one was a bit tricky until another former teammate stepped in on his behalf.
Richard Sherman, who had spent the early part of his career on a Pro Football Hall of Fame trajectory for the Seahawks before an excellent final act with the rival Niners, called Shanahan and put in a word for Wright. Shanahan, of course, knew Wright the player well from facing him many times over the years.
He also trusted Sherman's opinions after three successful seasons together. In 2024, Shanahan hired Wright as his defensive quality control coach, the lowest spot on the coaching totem pole but also one Shanahan believes is imperative for any coach.
In that role, Wright found himself doing everything from teaching players fundamentals to organizing thoughts and ideas to making PowerPoint presentations and drawing up plays. It's a tireless and largely thankless job, but it's also to see how committed a young coach is to the grind of the job.
It's not unusual for former players to try coaching and quickly realize the hours and work aren't what they want in the next phase of their lives. It helped Wright that then-Niners linebackers coach Johnny Holland is also a former player.
"I always say the guys that are former players, the hardest thing is the commitment being on the bottom," Holland said. "It's a process.
And DeMeco Ryans, Robert Saleh, they all come from the bottom up. I'm sure that's the best way to do it because you understand overall the game, you see the big picture of the game, and you get to learn a lot.
... I'm sure K.J.
didn't need to do this, but he just wanted to do it. He loved the game and to coach, you have to love the game.
From Day 1, I felt the commitment that he was all in." Wright credits Holland, who was San Francisco's linebackers coach for the past nine seasons, for serving as his mentor. Wright often found himself in Holland's office asking questions about how he can improve as a coach, calling Holland his "rock." It's why, when Shanahan wanted to promote Wright this offseason, his first question was: "What about Johnny?" The answer was Holland would move to the defensive run game coordinator role while continuing to provide support and guidance to Wright and the linebackers room.
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