K.J. Wright is in his third season with the 49ers and first as linebackers coach. Wright spent the previous two seasons (2024-25) as defensive quality control after joining the 49ers following an 11-year NFL playing career.

Wright worked alongside then-linebackers coach Johnny Holland as the two helped the 49ers defense finish the 2025 season with the 11th-ranked rushing defense (107.8 yards per game) and 13th-ranked scoring defense (21.8 points per game). Under his tutelage, LB Tatum Bethune and LB Dee Winters experienced career years, as Bethune registered a career-high 91 tackles to go along with four passes defensed and 1.0 sack, while Winters added a team and career-high 101 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception (returned for a touchdown).

K.J. Wright is in his third season with the 49ers and first as linebackers coach. Wright spent the previous two seasons (2024-25) as defensive quality control after joining the 49ers following an 11-year NFL playing career.

Wright worked alongside then-linebackers coach Johnny Holland as the two helped the 49ers defense finish the 2025 season with the 11th-ranked rushing defense (107.8 yards per game) and 13th-ranked scoring defense (21.8 points per game). Under his tutelage, LB Tatum Bethune and LB Dee Winters experienced career years, as Bethune registered a career-high 91 tackles to go along with four passes defensed and 1.0 sack, while Winters added a team and career-high 101 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception (returned for a touchdown).

In 2024, Wright aided a 49ers defense that finished with the fifth-ranked passing defense (192.8) and the eighth-ranked total defense (317.4) in the NFL. He worked closely with San Francisco's linebackers, which was led by LB Fred Warner, who earned his fourth career Associated Press First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections after leading the team in tackles (131) and forced fumbles (four), while also registering 1.0 sack, seven passes defensed and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Warner became one of three players in the NFL to register 130-ormore tackles in each of the previous four seasons (2021-24) and became the second linebacker in franchise history to register 10.0-or-more sacks and 10-or-more interceptions in a career (LB Keena Turner).

Originally drafted in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, Wright spent 11 seasons in the NFL with the Seahawks (2011-20) and Las Vegas Raiders (2021). He appeared in 161 games (148 starts) and registered 985 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 54 passes defensed, six interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries. Wright was named to the 2017 Pro Bowl after he tallied 126 tackles, 4.0 sacks, five passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 2016. He helped the Seahawks win two of the franchise's three NFC Championships (2013 & 2014) and defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

A native of Olive Branch, MS, Wright attended Mississippi State University for four seasons (2007-10) where he appeared in 47 games (35 starts) and registered 259 tackles, 9.0 sacks, 14 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Wright and his wife, Nathalie, have three children: Kaleyus, Kameron and Ariana.