The San Francisco 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan have formally named Robert Saleh because the staff’s new defensive coordinator. Saleh, 45, rejoins the 49ers after a three-plus-season stint (2021-24) as head coach of the New York Jets. His former participant, Sauce Gardner, wasted no time reacting to the information of his ex-coach’s hiring.
“Sheeesh🔥🔥🔥,” Gardner wrote in a retweet of NFL’s submit on X (previously Twitter).
Robert Saleh’s time with the Jets
Throughout his tenure in New York, Saleh helped 4 gamers earn Related Press First-Staff All-Professional honors of their first 4 NFL seasons: WR Braxton Berrios, CB Sauce Gardner, and DL Quinnen Williams. He additionally guided Gardner, LB Jermaine Johnson II, and Williams to Professional Bowl appearances.
Underneath Saleh’s management, the Jets protection thrived, constantly rating within the NFL’s high 10 throughout a number of classes through the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Over that two-year stretch, Saleh’s unit led the league in passing yards allowed per recreation (178.9) and opponent yards per play (4.7), whereas ending second in complete protection (301.7) and sixth in opponent yards per rush (4.1).
The protection racked up 93 sacks and 29 interceptions throughout that span, tying for eighth and tenth within the NFL, respectively. In 2022, Saleh helped mould the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Yr—WR Garrett Wilson and CB Sauce Gardner—making the Jets solely the third staff in NFL historical past to perform that milestone.
Saleh with the 49ers
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Throughout Saleh’s first run because the 49ers’ defensive coordinator (2017-20), he guided a unit that ranked third in passing yards allowed per recreation (211.4), fourth in complete protection (323.6) and opponent yards per play (5.1), and sixth in opponent yards per rush (4.1) over his four-year tenure.
In 2019, Saleh earned Coordinator of the Yr honors from Sporting Information and propelled the 49ers to Tremendous Bowl LIV by main a protection that ranked first in passing yards allowed per recreation (169.2), second in complete protection (281.8), and tied for second in third-down protection (33.3%).
The 2019 unit showcased the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Yr, DL Nick Bosa, together with two Second-Staff All-Professional alternatives in DL DeForest Buckner and CB Richard Sherman. Underneath Saleh’s steerage, Buckner, Bosa, Sherman, and LB Fred Warner all earned Professional Bowl nods throughout his first stint with the 49ers.
Earlier than his first stint with the 49ers
Earlier than his time in San Francisco, Saleh served because the linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars for 3 seasons (2014-16) and as a defensive high quality management coach for the Seattle Seahawks for 3 seasons (2011-13), enjoying a task of their Tremendous Bowl XLVIII championship staff.
He began his NFL teaching profession with the Houston Texans, taking up positions as a defensive intern (2005), defensive high quality management coach (2006-08), and assistant linebackers coach (2009-10). Saleh’s teaching roots hint again to the school ranks, the place he labored as a defensive assistant at Michigan State (2002-03), Central Michigan (2004), and Georgia (2005).
The San Francisco 49ers have constructed a storied legacy of defensive excellence, and with Robert Saleh again in cost, they intention to reclaim their dominance on that aspect of the ball. Saleh’s return is essential to reviving the 49ers’ greatness and, ideally, finishing the journey he and Shanahan started collectively in 2017.