A little over a year ago Chris Kiffin came to the 49ers as a pass rush specialist after being co-defensive coordinator under his brother Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic University. He was also under the scrutiny of the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations stemming from prior years while he was working as a defensive line coach and recruiter at Ole Miss.
It was thought by some that while he and Jeff Zgonina’s relationship may have been cordial on the surface they may have had some problems underneath. While the lack of an outside pass rush and the general lack of pressure on the quarterback could not have helped their relationship, I have a feeling Kiffin wanted to be much more innovative and aggressive while Zgonina may have taken Kiffin’s ideas as overstepping his boundaries.