The San Francisco 49ers may wind up losing out on their preferred candidate to fill their defensive coordinator opening.
Robert Saleh, who was fired as the head coach of the New York Jets after five games this season, is sitting atop the 49ers’ list of options to replace recently-fired DC Nick Sorensen. It appears a reunion between the 49ers and Saleh is in line barring a team hiring Saleh as their next head coach. Early in the coaching carousel it looked like the Jacksonville Jaguars might be San Francisco’s only competition. Now a report from Albert Breer indicates the list of competitors for Saleh’s services is growing.
Breer on Thursday reported Saleh was in Las Vegas to interview for the Las Vegas Raiders job Friday. He also indicated the Dallas Cowboys are ironing out a time to interview Saleh and that that interview could also be done over the weekend.
Saleh isn’t necessarily one of the hot names in this year’s head coaching cycle after going 20-36 at the helm for the Jets. Coaches like Ben Johnson, Mike McCarthy, and potentially Deion Sanders are all going to grab more headlines if they land with an NFL team. However, it’s easy to see a team turning to Saleh if they don’t get the coach they want.
This means the 49ers could be waiting around awhile for Saleh, and they’ll need to ensure they’re interviewing DC candidates in the meantime so they can act quickly if Saleh finds a head coaching job. They’ve interviewed Saleh and Detroit Lions defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner signaled Dennis Allen is on San Francisco’s radar, although he hasn’t interviewed. 49ers assistant head coach/defense coach Brandon Staley is also a candidate for the job.