San Francisco 49ers name Robert Saleh defensive coordinator

The San Francisco 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that Robert Saleh has been named the team’s defensive coordinator.

Saleh, 45, returns to the 49ers after spending more than three seasons (2021-24) as head coach of the New York Jets. During his time in New York, Saleh guided four different players through their first four years in the NFL to winning Associated Press First-team All-Pro honors (WR Braxton Berrios, CB Sauce Gardner and DL Quinnen Williams) and Pro Bowl appearances (Gardner, LB Jermaine Johnson II and Williams). The Jets defense has excelled with Saleh at the helm, ranking in the NFL’s top 10 in several categories during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. During that span (2022-23), Saleh’s Jets have ranked first in passing yards allowed per game (178.9) and opposing yards per play (4.7), second in total defense (301.7) and sixth in opposing yards per carry (4.1). The unit also totaled 93 sacks and 29 interceptions during that span, tied for eighth and tenth in the NFL, respectively. In 2022, Saleh was responsible for developing the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year with WR Garrett Wilson and Gardner, making the Jets the third team in NFL history to have both rookie players earn the honor .

During Saleh’s first stint as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator (2017-20), he led a unit that ranked third in passing yards allowed per game (211.4), fourth in total defense (323.6) and opposing yards per play (5.1) and sixth. in opposing yards per carry (4.1) during his tenure. In 2019, Saleh was named Coordinator of the Year by Sports news and helped the 49ers reach Super Bowl LIV by calling a defense that ranked first in passing yards allowed per game (169.2), second in total defense (281.8) and tied for second in third-down defense (33.3%). The unit included 2019 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year DL Nick Bosa, as well as two second-team All-Pro selections in DL DeForest Buckner and CB Richard Sherman. In Buckner, Bosa, Sherman and LB Fred Warner, Saleh produced four Pro Bowl players in his first stint with the 49ers.

Before joining San Francisco, Saleh spent three seasons (2014-16) as linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars and three seasons (2011-13) as defensive grade checker for the Seattle Seahawks, where he participated in the Super Bowl XLVIII victory. staff. He began his NFL coaching career spending six seasons with the Houston Texans, serving as a defensive intern (2005), defensive quality controller (2006-08) and assistant linebackers coach (2009-10). Saleh began his coaching career in the college ranks, serving as a defensive assistant on the staffs of Michigan State (2002-03), Central Michigan (2004) and Georgia (2005).

A native of Dearborn, Michigan, Saleh attended Northern Michigan University where he started at tight end for four years. Saleh and his wife, Sanaa, have seven children: five sons, Adam, Zane, Michael, Sam and Jacob, and two daughters, Mila and Ella.