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The Dallas Cowboys are reportedly hiring former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen as their special teams coordinator, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero.
The 46-year-old brings special teams experience, having served as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ special teams coordinator in 2021.
Sorensen was fired from the 49ers position as reported by NBC Sports’ Matt Maioccobut the team was hoping to keep him on as an assistant on the staff as they explored other options for its defensive coordinator position.
As a former NFL player, Sorensen was a defensive back for 10 seasons from 2001 to 2010, playing for the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns.
Sorensen served as the defensive coordinator for the 49ers for just one season before parting ways. His coaching career began in 2013 as a special teams assistant with the Seattle Seahawks, where he later transitioned to defensive backs coach.
During the 2024 season with the 49ers, the defense ranked eighth in the league in yards allowed but struggled with keeping teams out of the end zone, ranking 29th in points allowed. This contributed to a 6-11 record, causing them to miss the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl the previous season.
The 49ers hired former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator last week, quickly replacing Sorensen with a familiar face who had led the 49ers’ defense from 2017 to 2020.
This move came after head coach Kyle Shanahan hinted that it had been “tough” for Sorensen to adjust to San Francisco’s “schemes.”
“I do think people adjust to schemes, and I think you have to adjust too depending on your personnel,” Shanahan said in his exit interview, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “And I think that was a tougher thing for us this year. Just going into the season, it was a little bit harder than past seasons and some of the injuries we had, I think, made it really tough for Nick.”
Under Sorensen’s guidance on special teams in addition to their new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys will hope to improve on their 7-10 record next season.
