Rising coach on 49ers' staff? Former Seahawk K.J. Wright

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 rivalSeattle 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 theLas 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.

According to new Niners defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, question-asking is one of Wright's greatest strengths. Like Shanahan, Morris coached against Wright plenty over the years, but is now getting to see it up close.

"You can see why he was a great player," Morris said. "The attention to detail, the things that he brings to our meeting rooms, the experience from being out there, the experience from hearing it from a player's view, how he articulates and takes it as a coach and able to give to those guys and deliver it."

This offseason Wright could often be found chatting with star Niners linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw during practice.

Like Ryans before, Wright being so closely removed from a successful playing career makes it easier for him to relate to players. Wright says he can lean into his own experiences to help his players, whether that's someone dealing with injuries, getting benched, getting paid or any other stresses and anxieties that come with playing in the NFL.

Guys like Warner and Greenlaw who have been in the league since 2018 and 2019, respectively, played against Wright, which means respect comes built into the relationship.

"K.J. having been there and played the game at a high level and now having learned under Johnny to be ready for his moment, I think he'll do a great job," Warner said. "And it's collaboration, right? All of us working together, being coachable, having a coachable spirit to learn from K.J., and I know he'll get us right where we want to be."

It's not a coincidence that the most successful coordinators under Shanahan have been Saleh and Ryans, two coaches with backgrounds leading linebackers before moving to coordinator jobs.

Saleh says linebacker coaches need to know the entirety of the defense, the importance of communication and how pass rush and coverage work together, which gives them a leg up on other defensive coaches aiming to become coordinators. He calls it a "global understanding" that can be hard to gain from other positions.

When Saleh left the Niners the first time in 2021, Ryans was the easy choice to replace him. If Morris, who has been a head coach twice, gets San Francisco's defense back to previous levels, it's not out of the question he could get another opportunity in the coming years.

For now, Wright says he is only thinking of his current job and not the future.

"My goal is to be a really good linebackers coach with those guys in the room right now," Wright said. "How can I help these guys get better? How can I help a Fred and Greenlaw who are top Pro Bowlers and All-Pros? How can I help these guys get better at the linebacker position? That's my focus."br/]