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

Reports that New York Jets coach Robert Saleh had been fired surfaced Tuesday morning, with owner Woody Johnson confirming the news in a statement shortly afterward.

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

Saleh’s record as Jets coach was 20-36, but New York currently owns the same 2-3 mark as San Francisco and stands second in the AFC East. Saleh and the Jets did lose to the 49ers in the 2024 season opener last month at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers’ defense has underperformed, and the Faithful haven’t forgotten how stifling the unit was in 2019 under Saleh’s watchful eye. But there’s very little likelihood Saleh immediately would be brought back to the coaching staff.

Nick Sorensen was promoted from within this year to be defensive coordinator after a tough 2023 season under Steve Wilks, who was fired shortly after the Super Bowl LVIII loss. The 49ers also brought in former Los Angeles Chargers 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 unit continues to not perform to its potential, change could be ahead.

Twenty-nine total missed tackles over the past two games reflect on player fundamentals, which falls on the coaches. While pivotal, game-changing mistakes have been made in all phases of the game, 17 missed tackles against the New England Patriots in Week 4 and 12 in the Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals are glaring.

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

So, could the 49ers bring back Saleh, whose sideline energy was infectious to all players? Maybe. But will they do it immediately? More than likely not, no matter how much fans would like it.

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