Several San Francisco 49ers defensive assistant coaches spoke with reporters on Tuesday, offering insight into the team's offseason moves and preparations for the 2025 NFL season. The 49ers revamped their roster, particularly on defense, after key contributors departed in free agency. The team hopes its 11 draft picks and recent acquisitions will offset those losses.
A significant part of the defensive rebuild centered on the defensive line. San Francisco invested heavily by drafting Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins, and CJ West, then followed that up by trading for edge rusher Bryce Huff.
The 49ers also welcomed back Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator, a role he previously held from 2017 to 2020. The organization hopes his return will help rebound from a disappointing 6-11 finish last season, which landed them at the bottom of the NFC West.
Bryce Huff brings versatility to the 49ers defense
Huff's short stint with the Philadelphia Eagles didn't go as planned. The pass rusher dealt with a torn wrist ligament and failed to replicate the success of his 2023 season with the New York Jets, where he tallied a career-high 10 sacks.
Huff finished last year with just 2.5 sacks, but many believe he was misused in Philadelphia. Now reunited with Robert Saleh—his former Jets head coach—the 49ers are optimistic about a resurgence.
Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek believes Huff will add flexibility to the unit.
"Bryce has mainly, throughout his career, been an edge guy in passing situations," Kocurek said. "So that allows you to use the versatility that you have in your room in various different ways. Bryce can also bump down as a spinner, stand-up dude. It allows you to have more moving parts across the front, allows you to slide your versatile guys around, move them around, put them in different spots, locate matchup issues that, from a protection standpoint or a personnel standpoint, that we can try to exploit with different guys."
Kocurek believes Huff's wrist injury last season stalled his development, but still saw promise on tape.
"He had a wrist injury about mid-season that I think kind of derailed his progression with him being a stand-up player," Kocurek noted. "But I thought he was really coming along, and I thought he was getting better within his role of being more of a stand-up outside linebacker. You could see the progression of getting better.
"And then, I think the wrist injury kind of set him back, and it's hard when you're progressing, and then, all of a sudden, you get an injury that kind of stunts that growth. But you still saw a good player on tape. You still saw a player that could win one-on-one.
"It's a little bit different than the hand-in-the-ground role that he played with Robert and the Jets, but still a good player, and we're going to get him back to a little bit more with what he's comfortable with, putting his hand in the ground, and getting off, and getting him out of a two-point stance and back into a 3- or 4-point stance. It's where he's excelled at, and what he feels the most comfortable with."
Mykel Williams checks all the boxes
There is no doubt that Kocurek, one of the NFL's most respected position coaches, played a part in the 49ers drafting Williams in the first round.
Kocurek noted that Williams has been everything the 49ers hoped for after doing significant pre-draft homework on the defensive lineman.
"All the boxes have checked off so far—his toughness, his love for the game, the skill set that we've seen on tape, the skill set that his coaches at Georgia explained that he had in his body," Kocurek said. "A lot of the boxes have checked so far. Now, we're out there in a geared-down setting in OTA football right now, that you won't truly get the true assessment of it until we put the pads on in August, and really start going at this at the level that kind of correlates more to Sundays.
"But so far, so good. We're really impressed with the kid, his love for the game, his toughness, his eagerness to learn, and then, the skill set that backs all that up. So, the arrow's pointing up on all of it."
Kocurek also praised Williams' ability to rush from multiple spots along the line, noting his effectiveness from the nine-tech all the way inside to the A-gap.
Passing game specialist and defensive back coach Daniel Bullocks is also impressed by what he's seen early on from Williams.
"A high effort guy that can rush the passer, who can set the edge," Bullocks said. "Very excited about him, adding him to our team, him making our team better."
49ers defensive Line overhaul already impressing
Bullocks has been impressed with what he's seen so far from the 49ers' revamped defensive front. He believes the improvements will benefit the secondary significantly.
"I know one thing: we ain't got to cover long," Bullocks said. "I know they're going to get home, so that's a good thing on the back end. When we don't got to cover long, we can see the ball, make plays on the ball. And also, from a run-game standpoint, I know them guys are going to stop the run, so all we got to do is just fit our gap, and I'm very excited with the guys that we got up front with the front seven. And again, it's gonna make our job a lot easier on the back end."
What is Gus Bradley's role?
Veteran coach Gus Bradley joined the 49ers as assistant head coach and a defensive assistant. What exactly will his role be this season?
"I think the number one job of an assistant coach is to serve the head coach, serve the coaches, and then make sure or help players serve each other," Bradley said. "So really, that's my role now. That's kind of been my philosophy throughout my career, and it'll just continue here."
Bradley also provides a potential succession plan in case Saleh attracts another head coaching opportunity next year.
Smooth transition with Robert Saleh's return
Bullocks shared his thoughts on having Saleh back in the building. Bullocks, who has been part of head coach Kyle Shanahan's staff since 2017, was around during Saleh's entire first stint as the 49ers' defensive coordinator.
"It's been great having Salah back for the second time," Bullocks said. "We are experienced with him. We have a relationship with him."
That familiarity with Saleh has helped ease the latest defensive coordinator transition, making this coaching change a smooth one.
"It's been a smooth transition also even for Kyle, as well," Bullocks added. "And even our players that was here with him, with [LB] Fred Warner and [DE Nick] Bosa, them guys can connect with him. So it's been a smooth transition for us."