The San Francisco 49ers‘ apparent laser focus on rehiring Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator looked as if it could backfire on Wednesday after Liam Coen dropped out of the running for the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ head coaching job.
A day later, their plan now appears set to pay off after a stunning U-turn from Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Coen.
The Jags decided to part with general manager Trent Baalke, who infamously once occupied the same role with the 49ers, in the wake of Coen’s withdrawal. Baalke’s exit has in-turn sparked a change of heart from Coen, who was on Thursday reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter as meeting with the Jags and discussing a deal that would make him their next head coach.
Saleh, long since reported as the frontrunner to return to the 49ers for a second spell as their defensive coordinator, was scheduled to have a second interview with the Jaguars on Friday.
That prospect now seems very unlikely and, with the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders each looking set to go in different directions after interviewing Saleh, his remaining option would appear to be a reunion with Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers.
Dallas is, per Clarence Hill of All City DLLS , closing in on hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach, while former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was described as a “top candidate” for the Raiders by ESPN’s Ed Werder.
It is a huge stroke of fortune for the 49ers, who risked paying the price for a coordinator search that has been too narrow-minded, with Detroit Lions defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach DeShea Townsend the only other candidate to have been confirmed as an interviewee.
But it looks like things will work out for San Francisco, allowing the Niners to reunite with the man Shanahan hired as defensive coordinator when he took the head coaching job in 2017.
Saleh was the coordinator when the defense helped inspire the 49ers to a place in Super Bowl 54, which they dramatically lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. In the subsequent season, he kept the defense in the top five in the league despite a swathe of injuries in the pandemic season, his efforts earning him the New York Jets head coaching job.
He was fired by the Jets in October and spent the rest of the 2024 season working as an offensive consultant for the Green Bay Packers.
Should he indeed return to the 49ers, he will be tasked with reinvigorating a defense that experienced a steep decline in 2024, finishing 26th in Expected Points Added per play and 29th in success rate in its lone season under Nick Sorensen.
The personnel is very different from 2020, with Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw the only starters who were on the team when Saleh was last the coordinator. Still, Saleh’s track record speaks for itself and, despite some significant issues in run defense in 2024, the 49ers’ talent on defense is good enough to suggest he should be able to rekindle the old magic if he is retired.