SANTA CLARA – Raheem Morris is not a bore, nor should the 49ers’ defense be under his watch.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, people want to see offense. The rules have changed in different ways, so you have to do different things,” Morris said Thursday in his first press conference since accepting the gig three months ago.
“You have to have some multiplicity in your front,” Morris continued, “And you have to have multiplicity in your back end.”
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris speaks during a news conference at Levi's Stadium Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris speaks during a news conference at Levi’s Stadium Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
That doesn’t mean the 49ers are abandoning their typical four-man defensive front relying on wide-setting edge rushers. But that strict look had become predictable, stagnant, and too unproductive in recent years, even last season when a rash of injuries could have doomed Robert Saleh’s second term as defensive coordinator.
While the 49ers’ defensive line and secondary shuffle around, Morris knows it all orbits around an All-Pro linebacker coming off a fractured ankle, Fred Warner.
“Fred Warner is Fred Warner for a reason,” Morris said. “I’m going to try to utilize those guys to the best of their ability to do different things and additions to go out there and try to win a championship.”
Morris paid respect to the “nice job” of previous four-man fronts and commended how Saleh “dabbled” in five-man fronts last season. It’s just that,
“I’ve accumulated and acquired ideas and thoughts along my stops, from different people I’ve worked with,” Morris said. “You have to move around and move those chess pieces to do your best to stop these really explosive offenses.”
Morris, who turns 50 on Sept. 3, comes loaded with NFL coaching experience since he and Kyle Shanahan served on Jon Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff over 20 years ago, when they were “young puppies,” as Morris dubbed them.
More recently, Morris went 8-9 as the Atlanta Falcons coach each of the past two seasons, and that followed a three-year term as the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator, which was highlighted by a Super Bowl-winning season in 2021 that involved an NFC Championship Game comeback over the visiting 49ers.
It will be interesting to see if Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris draws any interest from NFL teams as a possible head coach in the future, columnist Mike Preston writes. (Kyusung Gong, AP)
It will be interesting to see if Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris draws any interest from NFL teams as a possible head coach in the future, columnist Mike Preston writes. (Kyusung Gong, AP)
Scheme aside, Morris needs healthy bodies to enact his plan. Defensive linemen Nick Bosa (knee), Mykel Williams (knee), Keion White (ankle) and Alfred Collins (shoulder) are coming back from surgeries.
The draft brought aboard defensive end Romello Height (second round, Texas Tech) and defensive tackle Gracen Halton (fourth round, Oklahoma).
“You always want to have those pass rushers. Romello brings a certain ability to pass rush that he showed opposite of (David Bailey) at Texas Tech,” Morris said. “… He plays with high energy, probably one of the highest energy guys in the draft that we saw. I’m extremely confident and fired up.”
With Collins and C.J. West entering their second seasons, Morris envisions’ Halton’s interior presence as key to the rotation, as the 49ers seek to “to get that constant roll and cause ultimate disruption for everybody we play against.”