By Matt Barrows, Michael Silver and Zack Rosenblatt
Welcome back, Robert Saleh.
According to league sources briefed on the coaching search, the San Francisco 49ers are expected to land the top target of their defensive coordinator search, the man who in 2017 established the system the 49ers have run ever since.
Saleh, who was fired in October as the New York Jets head coach five games into his fourth season, generated interest on the head-coaching front and was seen as one of the frontrunners for the Jacksonville Jaguars job.
His situation took a dramatic turn Thursday when Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who’d removed himself from the Jaguars head-coaching search a day earlier, re-inserted himself into the mix and became the favorite to win the job. What transpired between Wednesday and Thursday? The Jaguars parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke, making the job more attractive to Coen.
Saleh, meanwhile, was supposed to fly to Jacksonville late Thursday for an interview Friday, his second with Jacksonville. As the Coen news broke, however, he canceled that flight.
Saleh went 20-36 with no playoff appearances over three-plus season with the Jets. His teams were typically strong defensively, but an inability to find the right quarterback — among others, Zach Wilson, the second pick of the 2021 draft, struggled, and Aaron Rodgers ruptured his Achilles in his Jets debut in 2023 — was too much to overcome. Many were hesitant to credit Saleh for the team’s elite defensive performances in 2022 and 2023; he oversaw the unit with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. That narrative changed after the team collapsed over the 2024 season’s final three months.
Along with a 3-9 finish (they were 2-3 when Saleh was fired), consider: In the five games this season before Saleh’s dismissal, the Jets ranked fifth in defensive EPA. They ranked 31st after Saleh was fired and Ulbrich stepped in as the interim head coach, and their performances were often marked by issues with discipline (the Jets led the NFL in defensive penalties).
Saleh first arrived with the 49ers in 2017 with an aggressive “all gas, no brake” slogan and by 2019 had turned the 49ers into one of the top defenses in the league, one that relied on four talented defensive linemen to harass the quarterback and halt tailbacks. They tallied 48 sacks, held opponents under 20 points per game and finished first in the league in allowing 169.2 passing yards a game.
The 49ers were in rebuilding mode when the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch regime took over in 2017. The team initially struggled, and so did Saleh’s defense, which in 2018 was criticized for being too bland and at times too discombobulated. Shanahan, however, stuck with the defensive coordinator because he believed in Saleh and his system.
“I believe it’s a much harder one to go (against),” Shanahan said at the time. “I feel like there’s other things to it that he’s expanded and he’s a guy that, I think, (if) our fans give him the time — I know I will — our players will work very hard for him … Saleh’s a guy we should feel fortunate to have.”
Three major additions were made following the 2018 season: 1) The 49ers hired Kris Kocurek, a disciple of the attacking Wide 9 formation, to run the defensive line; 2) They traded for speedy pass rusher Dee Ford; 3) They used the No. 2 pick to draft defensive end Nick Bosa, who went on to become the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
The defense — and the defensive line — haven’t been quite as dominant since 2019 and the team is likely to use a chunk of its offseason capital to bolster that line. As the 2024 season came to a close, the 49ers allowed a 100-yard rusher nearly every week and went without a sack in four of their last six contents.
Critics looking for a shakeup on defense will note that Saleh is more of the same. In his end-of-season news conference earlier this month, Shanahan said that failing to make the playoffs at least would give him extra time to conduct his coordinator search with a larger pool of candidates than he’s had in recent offseasons.
“There are more opportunities out there and (I) plan on looking into all of them,” he said.
However, the team disclosed only three formal interviews for defensive coordinator: Saleh, in-house candidate Brandon Staley and Detroit Lions defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend. Saleh’s and Townsend’s interviews were conducted virtually and satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates.
Saleh also might not be inclined to add many new assistants. All of the main ones on defense — Kocurek, linebackers coach Johnny Holland and defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks — coached under Saleh previously in San Francisco.
Earlier this month, Shanahan said he was looking for a seasoned coordinator, which he’ll get with Saleh. He also said he was looking for someone who could pivot if injuries struck the defense like they did to Saleh’s predecessor, first-year coordinator Nick Sorensen, in 2024.
Shanahan’s main critique of Sorensen is that he wasn’t able to adjust after defensive linemen like Javon Hargrave, Yetur Gross-Matos and Bosa went down with injuries. Most interpreted that as a failure to engineer a better pass rush through blitzing, something the 49ers rarely did.
Indeed, the team ranked 31st in blitz rate last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Saleh, however, wasn’t known for blitzing when he was in San Francisco, though the Jets did it more than the 49ers last season, ranking 22nd in blitz percentage.
Related Reading
• 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan on next defensive coordinator, plans for Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel
• 49ers moving on from DC Nick Sorensen, hope to retain him on staff: Source
(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
