49ers Appear Destined For A Reunion With Robert Saleh

The San Francisco 49ers are re-tooling this off-season in order to keep their championship window open. That includes looking for a new defensive coordinator, which will be their third in as many seasons, after their previous two left to become head coaches elsewhere in the NFL. But they may become reunited with a familiar face in order to fill the position by bringing back one of the ones who left for greener pastures.

49ers Interview Robert Saleh For Defensive Coordinator Position

On Thursday afternoon, the 49ers announced that they had conducted and finished an interview with Robert Saleh. It would be the second tenure as the team’s defensive coordinator for the 45-year-old should he be hired, as he spent four years in the position from 2017 to 2020. During the team’s Super Bowl run in 2019, he led a top-ten defensive unit and instantly became a head coaching candidate, a job he eventually took with the New York Jets.

The #49ers complete interview with Robert Saleh for vacant DC position.

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) January 9, 2025

Things didn’t quite work out for Saleh as the head man in New York. He was on the hot seat entering 2024 after three straight losing seasons, and was fired after five games when it was clear that the Aaron Rodgers experiment had become a failure. He posted an overall record of 20-36 in his 56 games coached for the Jets, and his name has been mentioned as one of the best potential DC hires during the current coaching circuit.

SF Has Benefitted From Saleh In Different Ways

Should he return to the 49ers, Saleh could provide some needed stability as the team tries its best to keep Super Bowl hopes alive over the next few seasons. His successor at the position, DeMeco Ryans, spent just two years in the role before becoming the head coach of the Houston Texans. San Francisco has turned to Steve Wilks and Nick Sorenson since, who each lasted one year as the team’s DC before eventually being let go.

The 49ers interview Robert Saleh. pic.twitter.com/OyYdODgtPu

— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) January 9, 2025

Saleh would be the gift that keeps on giving for the 49ers. Thanks to a rule implemented by the NFL that rewards teams for developing “diverse” coaches who leave for other jobs, they were awarded two compensatory third round draft picks in recent years, adding to the other eight that they’ve received via the same method.

So not only did Saleh lead a Super Bowl-worthy defense for San Francisco, his departure provided assets that helped in their team building. Should he be hired again and improve a defense that gave up the 4th-most points last season, Saleh could be remembered as a key piece to the 49ers’ success over the past decade.