49ers Coach Explains Significant Schematic Shift Under Raheem Morris

The San Francisco 49ers made a pretty dramatic change from Robert Saleh as the team's defensive coordinator to Raheem Morris. While the shift is from one current NFL head coach to a former NFL head coach, head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted that the change goes much deeper than that. So far, it has led to immense success.

Kyle Shanahan Explains San Francisco 49ers Defensive Shift

The 49ers did not just change from Saleh to Morris; they went from a 4-3 defense with a cover-3 principle to a 3-4 look with more versatile schemes on the back end. 

Shanahan admitted that from Saleh, who was in San Francisco from 2017-2020, to DeMeco Ryans, Steve Wilks, Nick Sorensen, and then back to Saleh last year, the scheme has remained relatively the same. Morris is the first real change from that dynamic.

“It has to do with different schemes,” admitted Shanahan. “When you play our true three-deep, four under that we played for nine years with true zone drops instead of match drops and our type of two shells and stuff, you get used to who is supposed to stop plays.”

Shanahan noted that when teams play the 49ers, they expect a specific type of defense, and they come in with a game plan. He noted that with Morris, teams do not have that same comfort, which is making him much more valuable.

Notable differences include playing base defense more. They use a third linebacker almost twice as often as they did with Saleh last season. 

They have also moved Deommodore Lenoir into the slot more often to play dime with an extra cornerback rather than a safety. Lenoir had nine snaps in the slot with Saleh. He has 20 snaps in the slot through five weeks. 

Beyond that, they have already played more dime in 2026 than they did in all of 2025. The 49ers have also seen their blitz rate improve. They blitzed 18% of the time last year, and now they send an extra rusher on 24% of their snaps. Some of that is because they utilize five-man fronts more than Saleh did.

The 49ers went through major injury issues with both coordinators. Still, right now the 49ers defense looks like it could be taking another step as they continue to grow in this defense. The decision Shanahan made to switch things up is paying off in a big way.