The sums-of-squares in linear regression are special cases of the more general deviance values in the generalised linear model. In the more general model there is a response distribution with mean linked to a linear function of the explanatory variables (with an intercept term). The three deviance statistics in a GLM are defined as:
$$\begin{matrix}
\text{Null Deviance} \quad \quad \text{ } \text{ } & & \text{ } D_{TOT} = 2(\hat{\ell}_{S} - \hat{\ell}_0), \\[6pt]
\text{Explained Deviance} & & D_{REG} = 2(\hat{\ell}_{p} - \hat{\ell}_0), \\[6pt]
\text{Residual Deviance}^\dagger \text{ } & & \text{ } D_{RES} = 2(\hat{\ell}_{S} - \hat{\ell}_{p}). \\[6pt]
\end{matrix}$$
In these expressions the value $\hat{\ell}_S$ is the maximised log-likelihood under a saturated model (one parameter per data point), $\hat{\ell}_0$ is the maximised log-likelihood under a null model (intercept only), and $\hat{\ell}_{p}$ is the maximised log-likelihood under the model (intercept term and $p$ coefficients).
These deviance statistics play a role analogous to scaled versions of the sums-of-squares in linear regression. It is easy to see that they satisfy the decomposition $D_{TOT} = D_{REG} + D_{RES}$, which is analogous to the decomposition of the sums-of-squares in linear regression. In fact, in the case where you have a normal response distribution with a linear link function you get a linear regression model, and the deviance statistics reduce to the following:
$$\begin{equation} \begin{aligned}
D_{TOT} = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \sum_{i=1}^n (y_i - \bar{y})^2 = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \cdot SS_{TOT}, \\[6pt]
D_{REG} = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \sum_{i=1}^n (\hat{y}_i - \bar{y})^2 = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \cdot SS_{REG}, \\[6pt]
D_{RES} = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \sum_{i=1}^n (y_i - \hat{y}_i)^2 = \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \cdot SS_{RES}. \\[6pt]
\end{aligned} \end{equation}$$
Now, the coefficient of variation in a linear regression model is a goodness-of-fit statistic that measures the proportion of the total variation in the response that is attributable to the explanatory variables. A natural extension in the case of a GLM is to form the statistic:
$$R_{GLM}^2 = 1-\frac{D_{RES}}{D_{TOT}} = \frac{D_{REG}}{D_{TOT}}.$$
It is easily seen that this statistic reduces to the coefficient of variation in the special case of linear regression, since the scaling values cancel out. In the broader context of a GLM the statistic has a natural interpretation that is analogous to its interpretation in linear regression: it gives the proportion of the null deviance that is explained by the explanatory variables in the model.
Now that we have seen how the sums-of-squares in linear regression extend to the deviances in a GLM, we can see that the regular coefficient of variation is inappropriate in the non-linear model, since it is specific to the case of a linear model with a normally distributed error term. Nevertheless, we can see that although the standard coefficient of variation is inappropriate, it is possible to form an appropriate analogy using the deviance values, with an analogous interpretation.
$^\dagger$ The residual deviance is sometimes just called the deviance.
