Report: Robert Saleh returns to San Francisco 49ers staff after failing to land HC gig

The San Francisco 49ers are bringing a familiar face back to the Bay Area. On Friday evening, a source confirmed to Albert Breer that San Francisco is hiring Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator. San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan was patient with Saleh in allowing him to pursuit head coaching positions. And now that Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders positions are filled, Shanahan’s patience paid off.

During his time with the New York Jets, Saleh went 20-36 overall, with his best seasons coming in 2022 and 2023, posting a 7-10 overall record in each of those years.

Before joining the Jets as their head coach, Saleh spent from 2017 to 2020 as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. He was working as a consultant for the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 season. Matt LaFleur hired Saleh to work with the offense in that role.

During the 2019 season, the 49ers defense was sixth in the league in forced turnovers (27), second in total defense (281.8 yards per game), first in passing defense (169.2 yards per game), and fourth in sacks (48). It marked the first time since 2003 that the 49ers defense finished Top 10 in the league in both scoring and yards per game.

Instead, he will return to a place where he found a ton of success under Kyle Shanahan. A big move for San Francisco after missing the playoffs this past season, hoping to improve what was a porous defensive unit in 2024.

Robert Saleh makes his return to the Bay Area

“Welcome back, Robert Saleh,” a group of writers from The Athletic said. “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.”

This past season was a rough one defensively for San Francisco, having one of the worst scoring defenses. Giving up 25.6 points per game ranked No. 29 of 32 teams, only being below the Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, and Tennessee Titans.

Speaking of Dallas, Saleh did interview with the Cowboys recently to potentially become their head coach. The meeting took place on Saturday but clearly, nothing came to fruition. Saleh will instead be one of Dallas’ main rivals next year.

Getting back to some of the old units Saleh used to run will be the 49ers’ main goal. During the 2019 run to the Super Bowl, they ranked as the No. 8 scoring defense and allowed the second-fewest yards. If just a few things went their way against Kansas City, there might be a Super Bowl championship to celebrate.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this article.