According to The Athletic on Thursday, Robert Saleh will return to one of his previous positions as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. After the team started 2-3, Saleh was fired in October after more than three seasons as head coach of the New York Jets.
He never led the Jets to the postseason and ended up with a 20-36 record while he was employed. The 49ers’ defensive coordinator from 2017–20, the first four seasons of current San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure, was the 45-year-old Michigan native.
Following the 2019 season, the squad made it to the Super Bowl. Saleh spent the remainder of the season as a consultant to the Green Bay Packers following his dismissal from the Jets. Earlier this month, the 49ers fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after he was on the job for just one season.
San Francisco placed 29th in the NFL in terms of scoring defense (25.6 points per game allowed), but sixth in terms of total defense (317.4 yards per game allowed).
Before making his NFL coaching debut in 2005 as a defensive intern with the Texans, Saleh served as an assistant coach at the collegiate levels for Georgia, Michigan State, and Central Michigan.
Before joining the Seattle Seahawks’ staff in 2011–13 and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ staff in 2014–16, he stayed in Houston until 2010. After making it to the Super Bowl the previous season, the 49ers dropped to last place in the NFC West with a 6-11 record this season.
