Bouncing back from a 6-11 2024 NFL season will be a challenge for the 49ers, but coach Kyle Shanahan is receiving a little help from a friend.
The re-hiring of Robert Saleh as San Francisco's defensive coordinator could be considered the biggest “free-agent” signing of the 49ers' offseason. Shanahan recently shared during an open session at the NFL Annual meeting why bringing the defensive guru back to the Bay Area was so important.
"We talk about everything,” Shanahan said. “So whatever we discuss with all of the coaches, I discuss it with coordinators more than anything. That was one of the main reasons, or more exciting reasons for me to get Robert back. I know how good at X's and O's he is and how well he runs his side of the ball.
“But going through this with Robert once before, where we really had to build it and change things up and add things and take things away, I went through it with him once before and we did a pretty good job at it. We learned a lot going through it, and he’s only learned that much more going through it again on another staff.”
Saleh’s first stint as 49ers DC was as part of Shanahan’s first staff in 2017. The defense was in the cellar in several metrics across the board, but in three seasons, the 49ers boasted one of the stingiest units in the NFL and a defensive line that included Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Arik Armstead (who is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars), Indianapolis Colts’ DeForest Buckner and Denver Broncos' D.J. Jones.
That 2019 roster leaned heavily on a defensive line that generated 48 quarterback sacks during the regular season after notching 36 the season prior.
The 49ers also had talent at the second level with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw (now on the Denver Broncos) at linebacker as well as Richard Sherman and Jimmie Ward (Houston Texans) beyond them.
