49ers linebackers coach KJ Wright has his sights set on becoming a defensive coordinator

The 49ers have promoted K.J. Wright from quality control coach to linebackers coach this year, but Wright doesn’t want to be done moving up in the coaching ranks.

Wright told Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com that it’s too soon in his coaching career to say whether becoming a head coach is in his future, but he aspires to be a defensive coordinator.

“I do know this,” he said. “I do want to be a really good linebackers coach, and I do know I want to be a defensive coordinator. I for sure know that. And so I’m working toward that. And we’ll see. We’ll see once it gets past that point. Ask me again once I become defensive coordinator.”

A Pro Bowl linebacker who spent 10 years with the Seahawks and one year with the Raiders, Wright specifically said he wouldn’t go into coaching when he retired from playing. But he quickly realized that he didn’t want to relax in retirement; he wanted to keep competing. So he took a job with the 49ers in 2024, and now he’s putting his competitive fire toward advancing in the coaching ranks.