What Saleh’s Jets firing could mean for potential 49ers reunion

What Saleh’s Jets firing could mean for potential 49ers reunion originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

On Tuesday morning, reports surfaced that New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh had been relieved of his duties, with owner Woody Johnson confirming the news in a statement shortly after.

And it didn’t take long for 49ers fans to start wishing their former defensive coordinator would return to the Bay Area.

Saleh’s record over his term as Jets head coach is 20-36, but they currently have the same 2-3 record as the 49ers and stand in second place in the AFC East.

The 49ers’ defense has been underperforming, and the Faithful have not forgotten how stifling the defense was in 2019 under Saleh’s watchful eye. But there is very little likelihood the former defensive coach would immediately be brought back to the 49ers’ coaching staff.

Nick Sorensen was promoted from within to be the club’s defensive coordinator after a tough 2023 season under Steve Wilks, who was fired shortly after the club’s Super Bowl LVIII loss. The team also brought in former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley in a defensive advisory role.

Adding Saleh to a defensive coaching staff that already has two leadership positions in place seems unlikely, but if the defense continues to fail to perform to its potential — change could be ahead.

Twenty-nine total missed tackles by the defense over the past two games reflect on player fundamentals, and that falls on the coaching staff. While there have been pivotal, game-changing mistakes in all phases of the game, 17 missed tackles against the New England Patriots and 12 in the loss to the Arizona Cardinals is a glaring issue.

Saleh was hired as the defensive coordinator for the 49ers by coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch when they joined the 49ers organization in 2017. Saleh stayed through the 2020 season and was a significant part of the 2019 team that appeared in Super Bowl LIV.

Could the 49ers bring back their former defensive coordinator, whose sideline energy was infectious for the players on both sides of the ball? Maybe. But will they do it immediately? More than likely not, no matter how much fans would like it.

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