The first head coach to be fired this NFL season is someone who San Francisco 49ers fans are familiar with. Former Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was relieved of his head coaching duties after going 20-36 with the New York Jets and 2-3 this season.
Saleh was the 49ers' defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020, helping lead them to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2019 season. The Jets hired him to be their head coach in 2021 and, well, now here we are.
Shanahan spoke about Saleh and his feelings on his former defensive coordinator getting the axe just five weeks into the season. He said that he hadn't heard from Saleh yet but that Shanahan was surprised by the news.
"That stuff throws you off, especially when they're competing for first in the division this week, and I think they're up there on defense and have got a pretty good team and a chance to have a hell of a year. So that was pretty surprising.”
Kyle Shanahan "pretty shocked" by Robert Saleh's firing
Saleh failed to record a winning record while he was the Jets head coach and the offense was never able to do much of anything. Even this year with a healthy Aaron Rodgers, the Jets offense ranks sixth-worst in total yards this season. Eventually, that's going to cost the head coach his job no matter how well the defense is playing.
This might be bad news for Saleh but 49ers fans might be excited by the news. If Nick Sorensen doesn't work out as the 49ers defensive coordinator, perhaps reuniting with Saleh could be in the cards. He's already said that he doesn't plan to work for a team for the rest of the year but maybe the Niners could hire him and get him back to the Bay Area for the 2025 season and beyond.
Hopefully Shanahan and Saleh's previous relationship can help lure the free agent coach back to San Francisco and the two can pick up where they left off in 2020.
