Saleh was an analyst for the Packers during the 2024 season
According to Mike Silver of The Athletic, the San Francisco 49ers intend to hire their former defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, to the same position this offseason. Saleh left the team after the 2020 season to become the New York Jets’ head coach, a job he held until his mid-season firing in 2024. After he left New York, Saleh joined the Green Bay Packers as an offensive consultant, where he worked with head coach Matt LaFleur — the best man in Saleh’s wedding — to reverse engineer opposing defenses.
Saleh was a candidate to become the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach, a program where he spent time from 2014 to 2016, but that job appears to be going to Liam Coen, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator. If Saleh wasn’t going to get another crack as a head coach, it made sense that he would return to San Francisco under head coach Mike Shanahan.
Together, the Shanahan and Saleh duo went 13-3 in the 2019 season, taking their team all the way to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. That season featured a 37-8 blowout win against the Packers during the regular season and the team doubling up on Green Bay with a victory in the NFC Championship.
The 49ers are coming off of a low year, finishing 6-11, in part because receiver Brandon Aiyuk, running back Christian McCaffrey, running back Jordan Magon, left tackle Trent Williams and linebacker Dre Greenlaw all finished the season on the injured reserve. Assuming that their offensive skill talent is healthier in 2025 and Saleh rights the ship defensively, they should be in a better spot moving forward.