SANTA CLARA — Dee Ford, Nick Bosa, Kwon Alexander and Jason Verrett are not the only additions designed to upgrade the 49ers defense this year.

Meet Kris Kocurek and Joe Woods, critical hires as position coaches for the defensive line and secondary, respectively.

Kocurek’s impassioned instructions, complete with F-bombs, are becoming standard affair on the practice fields, while Woods, formerly the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator, is more subdued yet diligent in repairing a sub-par secondary.

All of which should poise defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for his unit’s most success in three seasons since coach Kyle Shanahan hired him.

Shanahan’s defensive assistants met with the media after Wednesday’s organized team activities, so let’s play 20 questions, with 10 apiece for Kocurek and Woods inside the Levi’s Stadium auditorium:

First up is Kocurek, a 40-year-old whose passion for line play resembles that of ex-49ers line czar Jim Tomsula. Kocurek coached the Detroit Lions line for nine seasons before doing so last year with the Miami Dolphins. He succeeds Jeff Zgonina.

1. In terms of your style, has it always been extremely intense on the field and is that how you want it to carry over with guys playing with their hair on fire?

“That’s just kind of the way I’ve always been, going back to when I first laced them up in middle-school football. I put my cleats on, walked out on the field, my heart started racing, I started sweating and I just hit it with my hair on fire, going as fast as I can go, as hard as I can go.

“I try to bring the energy out there at practice. I don’t necessarily think the players always need it. Sometimes during the dog days, they might need it and I’ll try to bring it as much as I can.”

2. What was your initial impression of the 49ers linemen?

“I saw a talented front, a lot of versatility that can be used in different spots according to different situations. I saw a tough group that played physical and hard, it’s one of the reasons that brought me here.”

3. What do you see with Dee Ford’s addition?

“Well obviously his ability to rush the quarterback on third down. His takeoff is one of the best in the game. He’s really quick out of his stance, can get on tackles really fast and he’s really starting to come into his own here. Last year was a big year for him, what he was able to do as a pass rusher. His physicality on the edge as a run defender, also, goes underappreciated, along with a lot of pass rushers in the NFL. He can also play the run, too. The main thing is his pass rush. That’s where he butters his bread.”

4. Do you see Ford’s addition freeing up Buckner inside, and what do you want to see Buckner improve on this year?

“First, great rushers complement each other. If you have multiple, three or four, pass rushes get stronger, and the more resources other teams have to allocate to stop those guys from getting to the quarterback. Second, Buck obviously had a really, really good year last year and it’s just a matter of fine-tuning little details with him. Just trying to get a little bit better. He’s not going to take huge jump, like a guy going from his rookie year to the second year. Right now it’s just little things with Buck, just sharpen that axe a little bit more every day, get a little bit sharper with his technique, maybe a little tighter with his hands, a little lower with his pad level.” Related Articles George Kittle just might return from knee injury vs. Giants despite MetLife field concerns

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5. How has Solomon Thomas improved?

“Since the day I arrived here, I see a player with a chip on his shoulder, a player with a look in his eye that he’s ready to take the next step. Everyone needs to realize Solomon is still a young player. He’s going into his third year. When they say NFL players usually take their biggest jump going from their second to third year. Based off the way he’s been working, whether it be in the classroom with film study, in the weight room and then on the practice field, he’s got that look in his eye. He’s ready to get better. Obviously last year was a rough year; he had to go through a lot of stuff. He’s covered that with you all. That’s not easy on a player at any position. He overcame it and he’s going to be stronger because of it. At the time it’s hard for him to see. Solomon is one of the hardest workers we have.”

6. What did your research on Thomas uncover?

“Based on what you see on film, Solomon is a guy that wants to do everything exactly right. You see a player that has versatility, that can play outside, and in certain situations you can slide him inside and utilize his quickness and speed. I didn’t want to take that element away because he is a versatile player. What I wanted to do with him is try to simplify things, take so much information that’s coming into his brain and try to narrow things down and get him to play as fast as he possibly can, knowing that mistakes are going to be made along the way. I want those mistakes being made playing fast, playing aggressive not thinking too much and paralyzing yourself as a player. He’s taken to that and is doing a really, really good job.”

7. What is the hallmark of a Kris Kocurek defensive line?

“Aggressive, physical, a group you see four D-linemen on the field pursuing the ball wherever it is on the field, trying to be the hardest-playing position group in the National Football League, a group that plays together, a group that’s unselfish, a group that when you see on the field they’re playing with their hair on fire.

“We’ll obviously use the 9-technique, along with other fronts. It won’t be all just 9 techniques. We’ll utilize whatever the game plan calls for us to win the game that week.”

8. What do you like about the wide-9 technique?

“The edge-setting ability that teams that want to get on your perimeter, you can set a physical edge in the run game, and it gives you a better angle to rush the passer on first and second down, than a little tighter alignment in a 6-technique. We’ll use some of the other fronts. It won’t be all 9-technique.”

9. How can Nick Bosa (out with a hamstring strain) take advantage of these OTAs?

“He needs to get as many mental reps as he possibly can, watching the other guys. It’s hard when a guy gets nixed up to put himself in a play, but that’s what he has to do right now because he can’t get out their physically. Put yourself in a play from the play call, he sees the formation, sees where he lines up, gets on his keys and sees how he would react to the situation like he was in there.”

10. How quickly can Nick Bosa get back in football form?

“He’ll get back pretty quickly. He comes from a Big Ten school with a high level of competiion. He’s been at a high level of competition basically his entire life. Once we get him back in there, he’ll integrate and be just fine.”

* * *

Joe Woods, 48, entered the NFL in 2004 as defensive backs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the same time Shanahan started his NFL career as their offensive quality control coach. Woods also coached with the Minnesota Vikings (2006-13) and Raiders (2014) before joining the Denver Broncos (2015-16 secondary coach, 2017-18 defensive coordinator).

1. Drawing from your career, how does a pass rush help the secondary?

“It’s always rush and coverage. From anywhere I’ve been, going back to Tampa Bay to Minnesota, it’s always about rush and coverage. That’s how we lived in Denver that first year (2015), made it to the big game. Here, the organization, John Lynch and Kyle did a great job in free agency and putting the pieces together in the draft. Now I definitely feel we have the outside rushers and inside rushers, and I feel we have very good depth and talent in the secondary.”

2. When you started in Tampa (2004), John Lynch had just left (as a safety). When you showed film from the previous year, was John all over the film?

“There’s no question. It’s weird when you think back to Tampa. It’s one of those iconic defenses. But that whole safety position, the safety being down in the box, it’s because of John Lynch. We had to change because teams started to track ‘Where’s Lynch? If he’s on this side, he’s coming down this way; if he’s on that side, he’s coming down that way.’ He’s just a legend down in Tampa. Now to work for him, he’s just a great person. He’s a football guy, knows what we go through and he’s been great for me so far.”

3. How good was that Tampa staff?

“It was a fun ride. I was down there with Monte Kiffin, I went to Minnesota with Mike Tomlin. Coached with Joe Barry, Rod Marinelli, Raheem Morris. All these guys came through Tampa, so it was Gus Bradley, Todd Walsh, coach (Robert) Saleh. They all had that Tampa mentality. We all speak the same language.”

4. Didn’t Shanahan sit in with you defensive guys, too?

“Absolutely, Shanny was with us. He was still a football geek. You could tell he was definitely – it was all about him getting experience as a position coach and coordinator – but you knew at some point in time he was going to be a head coach.”

5. What did you think of your group when you came here (as defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator)?

“Outstanding talent. Obviously the injury history is there. But as a coach, you can’t think about that. When I evaluated guys with different teams, like I remember (safety Jaquiski) Tartt coming out, I thought he was talented and was, ‘Man, I wish we could draft him.’ Same thing with Jimmie Ward. Colbert was my late-round, steal guy I was sitting on. When they drafted him here, I called a couple guys I knew and said, ‘Man, you got my guy!’ Coaching Sherman … I was familiar with Spoon because I was in Denver (Ahkello Witherspoon played at the University of Colorado). The guys I really wanted to coach and was interested in, they’re all here in the room, so it’s on me as a coach to get these guys ready and I’m up to the challenge.”

6. What to make of Tarvarius Moore’s switch back to safety from cornerback?

“The thing you have to be careful of with guys like that, is that you don’t try to get too much out of them. Same thing with Jimmie (Ward). If you thin them out too much, they really don’t grow into a position.

“So early on, I definitely wanted to work with him at corner. And he was coming along at corner. But with the injury to Jimmie, we just felt it was the best thing for the team and for him to move him back to safety, because it was his natural position. First day he came out, interception. I love everything he can do athletically.”

7. How do Moore’s speed and size make him versatile?

“It’s very rare, of all the guys I’ve evaluated over my career in the NFL, you’re going to see corners that maybe are missing something that you move to safety, but you very rarely see a safety that has the skillset to can move to corner. I think the Flowers kid from Oklahoma State that’s in Seattle, he made that transition. T-Moore has that ability.”

8. What did you see of the mindset of guys who’ve experienced highs and lows like Adrian Colbert and Ahkello Witherspoon?

“What happens is when you’re not winning, you start pressing. I watched Colbert every single snap, first thing I did when I got here. You look at the tape the year before, he was just sitting back and playing his technique. But then last year, he started pressing, trying to make plays and come out of the post. That’s the worst thing you can do as a secondary player — press to make plays, regardless of the situation. Where Colbert and for Spoon, that’s what they both tried to do, and they put themselves in bad position. They’ve just got to go out, do the best they plan and make the plays they’re supposed to make, period.”

9. What was the best and worst parts of being a defensive coordinator?

“Well, the worst part is obviously you wanted to do better. You don’t ever want to get fired from a job. I understand it, just from being there in Denver, it’s all about wins in this league, what have you done for me lately. And I wasn’t able to get that done as a coordinator. I’ve got to look at that as something to learn from. That was the tough part. But the fun part is when you coach a group of guys and you get them together and you motivate them and they go out on game day and perform the defense the way you want to see it, that was fun.”

10. What’s your impression of how Saleh treats the defense?

“Saleh’s a great guy, very knowledgeable. I knew about him because we all kind of came from the same (Tampa 2-scheme) family. It was really a great opportunity to work with him and learn the defensive scheme. So far it’s been great. He knows about all three levels of this defense.