Why Nick Bosa isn’t expecting big changes with the 49ers defense in 2023

The NFL Defensive Player of the Year, pass rusher Nick Bosa, spent some time this week speaking with his former teammate, Richard Sherman. The San Francisco 49ers are transitioning from defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, hired by the Houston Texans as their new head coach, to Steve Wilks. That’s a significant move for the coaching staff, but Bosa isn’t expecting sweeping changes on his side of the football.

“Whenever you have success like we’ve had, you’re not going to fix what isn’t broken,” Bosa said on the Richard Sherman Podcast. “Obviously, there’s things you got to tweak, and you got to get better because the NFL is constantly evolving, but [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] knows what’s successful, what’s got us here, defensively, and he kind of told me before that whatever guys we’re bringing in, they’re going to talk to [defensive line] Coach [Kris] Kocurek first, make sure that he spits some dip in their face before they hire him.

“But no, we’re going to be attacking on D. We’ve got dogs at every level, especially this year. I think [linebackers] Fred [Warner] and Dre [Greenlaw] have taken another step, which is kind of scary. And then we got [cornerback] Charvarius [Ward] back there. [Emmanuel Moseley] will be back, so it’s only up from here.”

Moseley, of course, is scheduled to become a free agent. He is coming off an ACL injury, though, and San Francisco hopes to re-sign him.

“He’s a guy we’d have interest in bringing back because of the way he plays, but also what he stands for,” general manager John Lynch said of Moseley during the team’s end-of-season press conference. “He’s one of us, and we’d sure like to have him back.”

Wilks inherits Bosa and the league’s top-ranked defense. He’s walking into a great situation. The unit should be able to build on what has already been established.

“We’re very pleased with Steve Wilks coming in,” Lynch said this week at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And Steve is very similar [to Ryans]. Steve’s got presence, and we recognized that right away. He’s got a willingness.

“We were just the number one defense in football, so we don’t want to make wholesale changes, so we needed somebody who had a similar vision on how you play the game.

“As such, Kyle and myself, we included our defensive coaches in the interview process, and I think they felt the same way Kyle and I did that this was the right guy, big shoes to fill from DeMeco, but we’re really excited about where we’re going with Steve.”

Lynch isn’t alone in his assessment of Wilks. Others around the NFL quickly congratulated the 49ers on the great hire.

“Steve came in with a great reputation,” assistant general manager Adam Peters told The Athletic this week. “Once we hired him, I got a bunch of text messages saying not just how smart he is and how good of a coach he is, but how good of a person he is. They all said, ‘You’re going to really like this guy.’ And sure enough, he’s been fantastic so far.

“… [W]e spent a lot of time on the phone and in Zoom meetings with [the coaches]. And in the meetings we’ve had, he’s been really able to communicate and articulate it really well. I’m really excited to work with him.”