49ers add two coaches to defensive staff

According to reports, the San Francisco 49ers will hire Nick Sorenson and Asauni Rufus to their defensive coaching staff.

Sorensen will serve as a defensive assistant. He was an NFL safety from 2001 to 2010, playing for the Rams, Jaguars, and Browns. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins, Sorensen made his NFL debut with the Rams in the middle of the 2001 season. He recovered two fumbles for the Rams in the 2001 postseason, one of which came during their Super Bowl XXXVI loss to New England.

Sorensen began his coaching career with the Seattle Seahawks. He served as a special teams assistant from 2013 to 2016, winning two NFC Championships and Super Bowl XLVIII. From 2017 to 2020, Sorensen coached the Seahawks secondary.

This past season Sorensen served as special teams coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Sorensen’s hire was first reported by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

Rufus will serve as a defensive quality control coach. He was a four-year starter at defensive back in college for Nevada from 2015 to 2018.

Rufus began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2019, serving as a graduate assistant. He moved to Notre Dame in 2020 to work as a special teams analyst under ex-Nevada head coach Brian Polian. Rufus then followed Clark Lea from Notre Dame to Vanderbilt in 2021 where he was a quality control assistant. He was expected to be a graduate assistant at LSU in 2022 before the 49ers came calling.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic was the first to report the hiring of Rufus.