The Oakland Raiders defense has been a mess for some time now, and on Tuesday, head Jack Del Rio fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. This marked Norton’s third season as Raiders DC.
Prior to joining the Raiders, Norton was linebackers coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 2010 to 2014. From 2011 to 2013, the team’s defensive quality control coach was Robert Saleh. After 2013, Saleh spent three seasons as linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, before joining Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers as defensive coordinator.
The 49ers coaching staff has all the position coach roles filled out, but if the 49ers wanted to add another defensive assistant, I imagine they could carve out a roll for Norton. It is also possible Norton waits out the season and then joins them or a new coaching staff in 2018.
But, the one-time 49ers linebacker is certainly an option if the 49ers want to bring in some more experience. And at the very least, after every 49ers defensive turnover, maybe we can see him get in his heavy bag workout again!