The San Francisco 49ers are in the midst of a search for a new defensive coordinator for the second year in a row.
Last year they went with a familiar face in Nick Sorensen, who’d been on the coaching staff since 2021. This year they may do the same, but with a former defensive coordinator.
Josina Anderson on Wednesday reported the 49ers are expected to offer Robert Saleh their defensive coordinator job. Saleh was fired as the New York Jets head coach mid-season. He took a job as an offensive consultant on the Green Bay Packers staff this season after the Jets let him go.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan gave Saleh his first defensive coordinator opportunity in 2017 during Shanahan’s first season at the helm in San Francisco. Saleh struggled out of the gate, but turned into one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators and wound up getting a job as the Jets head coach after the 2020 campaign.
It would be a pretty significant upgrade for the 49ers if they’re able to lure Saleh back to the Bay Area. Anderson also reported Saleh has a head coach interview lined up with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but if he doesn’t receive that post, it stands to reason he’d be back running a defense somewhere in the NFL.
Given his familiarity with the 49ers and their stars on the defensive side, a reunion would make a ton of sense for both sides. Saleh would get to re-establish himself as a head coaching candidate, and the 49ers would get a key piece to rebuild a defense that struggled mightily in 2024.
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