Did the 49ers get too comfortable in their decision to bring back Robert Saleh?
It’s been a popular week for former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinators. Nick Sorensen is headed to Dallas to be the Cowboys special teams coordinator. Steve Wilks is back in the NFL. He was named the New York Jets defensive coordinator on Wednesday night.
Last Friday, the 49ers brought back Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator, a move everyone expected. The decision was likely made in the middle of the season.
Saleh had tremendous success during his first stint with the Niners. He was a head coaching candidate after the Super Bowl run in 2019. The 49ers were lucky to retain Saleh for another season before the Jets hired him away.
The 49ers and Jets both enjoyed top-five defenses under Saleh. There’s little reason to expect Saleh to stray away from what’s made his defenses elite. There also may not be much turnover when it comes to the defensive staff. Brandon Staley is likely a goner, but the way Kyle Shanahan talks about linebackers coach Johnny Holland, the way the secondary has improved under Daniel Bullocks, and how Kris Kocurek once again took younger defensive linemen to another level makes me believe the staff will remain in place.
Still, upgrades are necessary along the defensive line. That was true regardless of who the team hired as coordinator.
Saleh slots back in as coordinator, and everything returns back to the way it was a few years ago, right? Right? It feels too easy. Everything about the situation, from the lack of external interviews to the expectation that the defense will return to prominence.
To be clear, this is more of an indictment on the process than anything. Saleh is objectively one of the best coordinators in the NFL. You could say the same for Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Deommodore Lenoir in their respective positions.
Common sense would bring you to the conclusion that a top-five player at every level paired with a top-five coordinator would put the Niners in a position to bounce back in a big way defensively in 2025.
Now that we’re a week removed from the hire, how do you feel about the Niners’ process and decision to bring back Saleh?