The 49ers are making a move to strengthen their defense.
The club is hiring former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus as an assistant head coach, focusing on defense.
Eberflus spent last year as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator but was fired after a disastrous season in which Dallas surrendered 30.1 points per game, the most in the NFL.
Before Dallas, Eberflus spent three seasons as the Bears’ head coach from 2022 to 2024. He was fired after the club compiled a 14-32 record.
Despite the lack of success in Chicago and Dallas, Eberflus is well-regarded in the NFL as a defensive coach and was key to a significant turnaround in Indianapolis when he was the Colts’ defensive coordinator from 2018-2021.
The Colts ranked 30th in defense the year before Eberflus arrived, giving up 25.3 points per game. They ranked 10th in that category in his first year with the team, allowing 21.5 points per game. Over the next three seasons, the Colts finished 10th or better in scoring defense twice.
The work he did in Indianapolis led to the Bears hiring him as their head coach in 2022.
It has not been a great period for Eberflus since then, but he remains a popular defensive mind.
The 49ers could use the help after their 2025 defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, left to become the head coach of the Titans, bringing his 49ers assistant, Gus Bradley, with him to Tennessee as his defensive coordinator.
San Francisco hired former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris to replace Saleh, and now Eberflus to assist him.