Sometimes, in the National Football League, all you need is some familiarity to get back on your feet.
Tuesday brought the first big personnel decision of the 2024 NFL regular season, as New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was fired after a 2-3 start to the season. Saleh was 20-36 overall during his three-plus seasons in New York.
Things simply weren't working out for the Jets or Saleh, and there appeared to be a disconnect between the head coach and superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who returned to New York after missing the entire 2023 season with a torn Achilles. But the fact remains--Saleh is still a very good defensive coach.
Saleh developed his head coaching chops with the San Francisco 49ers as the team's defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020, helping them secure a Super Bowl berth in the process. He was the first of three Kyle Shanahan coordinators to land head coaching gigs, followed by Mike McDaniel and DeMeco Ryans.
Saleh will still be paid by the Jets through the end of the year, so there's no rush for him to find his next gig. But the obvious question that must be posed is this: Will Saleh return to his old post with the 49ers?
According to Benjamin Solak of ESPN, Saleh's Jets defense ranks first in points per drive, first in EPA per play, and third in success rate since the start of 2021. Losing is losing and sometimes a change is necessary, but there is little question about the 45-year-old's ability to run a defense.
The timing may be perfect for the 49ers to make a run at Saleh, given their own struggles on defense thus far in 2024. First-year defensive coordinator Nick Sorenson has taken some criticism following the 49ers' two fourth-quarter comeback losses this season, including this past week, from his own star player, Nick Bosa.
"In all of our losses, the preparation we've had has been great, but teams are playing us different and doing things differently and we need to adjust a little better. They're just showing different looks than what we were looking at on tape. We've got to adjust," Bosa said Monday, per Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated.
That doesn't sound like a player who is thrilled to have Sorenson as his defensive coordinator. And many 49ers defensive players like Bosa, Fred Warner, and Dre Greenlaw were already in the building by the time Saleh left for New York.
The recipe for a reunion certainly seems to be brewing. But there's no telling what Saleh ultimately desires from his next post, so there can be no certainty as to if and when such a reunion might occur.
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