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The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> have hired Matt Eberflus as their assistant head coach of defense, according to NFL Network\u2019s Tom Pelissero<\/a>.<\/p>\n The move matters right now because it fills the leadership\/oversight role that opened when Gus Bradley left San Francisco for the Tennessee Titans\u2019 defensive coordinator job in early February. With spring install and OTAs on the horizon, the 49ers are clearly trying to lock in their defensive brain trust early.<\/p>\n The 49ers have hired Matt Eberflus as their assistant head coach of defense, per sources. <\/p>\n Eberflus \u2014 the former Bears head coach and most recently Cowboys defensive coordinator \u2014 fills a key role vacated when Gus Bradley left for Tennessee. <\/p>\n Key Points Assistant head coach of defense can sound ceremonial, but it\u2019s usually a process job: organizing weekly prep, helping the coordinator with opponent tendencies, managing in-game communication flow, and acting as a stabilizer when the head coach is pulled in 10 directions.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why this matters in San Francisco\u2019s current context. Bradley\u2019s departure created a real vacuum: the kind of veteran presence who can be a second set of eyes on third downs, red zone packages, and situational football. Bradley left to become the Titans\u2019 defensive coordinator under new head coach Robert Saleh, per NFL<\/a> Network reporting and the Titans\u2019 own announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Matt Eberflus Fired by Cowboys in January<\/p>\n Eberflus arrives in San Francisco with recent \u201creset\u201d stops on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n First, his Bears tenure ended in-season. The Chicago Bears fired Eberflus<\/a> on Nov. 29, 2024 after a 4-8 start and a stretch of high-profile late-game issues, including the Thanksgiving loss that became a major flashpoint. NFL.com noted Chicago elevated Thomas Brown to interim head coach.<\/p>\n Then, after getting back to coordinator work in Dallas, the Cowboys fired Eberflus<\/a> as defensive coordinator on Jan. 6, 2026, two days after the season ended, with ESPN reporting the team had announced the move. NFL.com also reported the Cowboys<\/a> moved on after one season.<\/p>\n Why that matters for the 49ers: San Francisco isn\u2019t hiring him to run the building as \u201cthe guy.\u201d They\u2019re hiring him into a narrower lane, supporting, structuring, and problem-solving on defense.<\/p>\n Coaching History<\/p>\n Matt Eberflus brings a long, defense-first r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to San Francisco after stints as an NFL head coach and coordinator, the kind of background that fits what the assistant head coach of defense role typically demands: weekly structure, teaching, and situational problem-solving as the 49ers recalibrate after Gus Bradley\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n Eberflus jumped to the NFL in 2009 and steadily climbed through linebacker-heavy roles that translate directly to communication and fit integrity, two areas teams obsess over on Sundays. He coached linebackers with the Cleveland Browns<\/a> (2009-2010), then spent seven seasons as the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 linebackers coach (2011-2017), eventually adding passing game coordinator duties, a detail that matters because it ties him to coverage planning and weekly opponent prep beyond just front-seven coaching.<\/p>\n His biggest coordinator runway came with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> (2018-2021), where he served as defensive coordinator across multiple seasons before landing his first head-coaching opportunity.<\/p>\n From there, the timeline is straightforward:<\/p>\n Chicago Bears<\/a> head coach (2022-Nov. 29, 2024): Chicago fired Eberflus midseason following a 4-8 start.<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator (2025-Jan. 6, 2026): Dallas moved on from Eberflus after one season as DC.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tErik Anderson<\/a> is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on 49ers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The San Francisco 49ers have hired Matt Eberflus as their assistant head coach of defense, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-206132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPelissero reported the 49ers hired Matt Eberflus as assistant head coach of defense.
\nEberflus replaces the \u201ckey role\u201d left behind when Gus Bradley departed for Tennessee.<\/a>
\nThe job is less about calling plays and more about weekly structure, game-plan process, and staff coordination, especially in a new\/adjusting defensive staff environment.
\nMatt Eberflus Hired by 49ers: What the Role Actually Does<\/p>\n