© Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
UPDATE: According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the 49ers’ have found their new defensive backs coach in former Miami Dolphins safeties coach Tony Oden.
The #49ers are hiring former #Dolphins defensive backs coach Tony Oden as their new secondary coach, sources say. He fills the spot formerly occupied by Joe Woods — who has become the #Browns defensive coordinator.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 10, 2020
After the season the 49ers had defensively, especially in the secondary, it was only a matter of time before Joe Woods found a promotion. Fired after two years as the Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator, Woods signed a one-year deal with the 49ers as defensive backs coach and oversaw arguably the league’s best pass defense (lowest passing yards per game allowed at 169.2 yards per game).
When Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski was hired over Robert Saleh as the Cleveland Browns’ new head coach, Woods was the obvious choice as defensive coordinator. Woods spent seven years with Stefanski and the Vikings and told KNBR before the Super Bowl that he knew where he and Stefanski stood.
“I know Kevin [Stefanski] really well, so I know where I sit with Kevin, but there’s not going to be decisions made until after the Super Bowl so I understand that, he understands that,” Woods said. “And all my focus is just on this game, to be honest with you.”
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the move is now official.
The #Browns agreed to terms with Joe Woods to be their defensive coordinator, source said. The expected move, now official.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 6, 2020
Woods’ departure leaves the 49ers in need of a new defensive backs coach, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reporting that Kris Richard, who coached with Saleh with the Seattle Seahawks and was the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for the past two years, a likely candidate to replace him.
Before his time with the Cowboys, Richard was the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator from 2015-17, defensive backs coach from 2012-14, cornerbacks coach in 2011, assistant defensive backs coach in 2010, and was a graduate assistant with Pete Carroll at USC from 2008-09. He and Saleh shared three years in Seattle from 2011-13.
Another possibility, according to Rapoport, is Tony Oden, who was fired as safeties coach of the Miami Dolphins at the end of last season and who spent 2005 with Saleh with the Houston Texans as a defensive assistant (Saleh was a defensive intern).
After coaching in college for eight years at a number of different schools, Oden got his NFL start with the Texans in 2004 before being hired by the New Orleans Saints as assistant secondary coach from 2006-10 and secondary coach in 2011. He was hired as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach in 2012 and 2013, respectively, before spending 2014-17 as the Detroit Lions’ cornerbacks coach and then moving to the Dolphins.