SANTA CLARA — Robert Saleh is reprising his role as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, a league source confirmed Friday night.
Saleh returns to a vastly different unit than he left behind four years ago.
Fred Warner and Nick Bosa are the only starters still under contract from Saleh’s initial 2017-20 regime, during which he became known for his sideline enthusiasm and parlayed that successful stint into his first head-coaching job with the New York Jets.
Saleh had interviewed in recent days to fill the coaching vacancies with the Jacksonville Jaguars (Jan. 12), the Las Vegas Raiders (Jan. 14) and the Dallas Cowboys (Jan. 16).
Saleh was to interview a second time with the Jaguars until Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen re-entered the Jaguars’ picture Thursday, a day after Jacksonville fired general manager Trent Baalke. On Friday, as Coen completed his deal with Jacksonville, the Raiders hired 73-year-old San Francisco native Pete Carroll, whom Saleh worked for as an entry-level defensive assistant in 2011-13. And the Cowboys’ post went to Brian Schottenheimer, their incumbent offensive coordinator.
While Saleh returns to his former post — the 49ers’ first-ever encore for an ex-defensive coordinator — coach Kyle Shanahan still has two other key vacancies to fill on his staff: offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator.
Shanahan, at his Jan. 8 press conference, prematurely announced Klay Kubiak’s promotion to the offensive coordinator role before fulfilling the league-mandated protocol of interviewing two minority candidates. Several candidates have been interviewed to replace Brian Schneider as special teams czar.
Saleh, 45, was fired five games into this season to conclude a 20-36 tenure with the Jets; they completed their 5-12 campaign under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, a former 49ers linebacker who recently got hired as the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator.
Saleh’s return to the 49ers was telegraphed, as he was among the first candidates interviewed after Nick Sorensen’s ouster after one year as defensive coordinator. Sorensen was to be considered for the special teams vacancy but he is not expected to remain on staff, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, who noted that ex-Jets assistant Brant Boyer has interviewed for that role, which belonged the previous three seasons to Brian Schneider.
Saleh is the 49ers’ fourth defensive coordinator in as many years, following DeMeco Ryans (2021-22), Steve Wilks (2023) and Sorensen
A day after Shanahan confirmed Sorensen would not return to lead the defense, the 49ers announced they had interviewed Saleh and Detroit Lions assistant Deshea Townsend, with both interviews being done virtually and fulfilling the NFL’s minority-hiring practices. No other interviews were announced, although Shanahan had said he would consider elevating Brandon Staley, who served the past season as his assistant head coach and worked with the defense.
The 49ers’ 6-11 fall from NFC champions to NFC West cellar dwellers was ushered by a defense that ranked 29th in points allowed (25.6 per game). They registered just two takeaways over the final nine games and allowed at least 40 points in losing each of their final two games. Among their pending free agents are linebacker Dre Greenlaw, cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Talanoa Hufanga.
Shanahan said after the season he still very much favors the defensive scheme the 49ers have deployed since Saleh first arrived in 2017, with four defensive linemen responsible for creating pass-rush pressure rather than relying on unpredictable blitzes.
The 49ers struggled defensively in Saleh’s initial two seasons, then they keyed the 2019 team’s path to the Super Bowl. A few days after their 2023 team also lost in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs, Wilks was fired and eventually replaced by the in-house promotion of Sorensen, who worked as a nickel backs coach with no prior experience as a coordinator.
Shanahan cited the 49ers’ deep playoff runs for adversely affecting his past searches for assistants, and this go-round saw him having to compete with seven franchises who were overhauling their staffs from the head coach on down.
Source: Paradise Post
