SANTA CLARA — Robert Saleh has been through this before so he knows what’s coming.
And while the natural inclination would be to begin casting an eye on which NFL coaching vacancy would be the best opportunity, for now he’ll leave that up to the Wasserman Group. The agency, which includes Bay Area native Doug Hendrickson as vice president, posted on the social media platform X that it is representing Saleh during the upcoming round of coaching musical chairs.
Saleh isn’t eligible to speak to other teams until next week, and interviews, whether remote or in person, are limited to three hours. Forty-Niners coach Kyle Shanahan knows the drill. He lost Saleh to the Jets after the 2021 season, DeMeco Ryans to Houston after 2022 and Mike McDaniel to Miami after 2023.
“The league has done a really nice job with structuring the interview process to allow people to focus on the job at hand so I haven’t thought about any of it,” Saleh said Thursday. “I know things come in, but it’s not something I have to deal with until next week so I’m completely focused on Philly.”
The 49ers (12-5) visit the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) Sunday (1:30 p.m., Fox) at Lincoln Financial Field in an NFC wild-card game.
Saleh figures to be choosy about which jobs to pursue. He already worked more than three seasons for the New York Jets. The dysfunction of the franchise from ownership down is so ingrained that Saleh’s 20-36 record from 2021 and into 2024 isn’t likely to be held against him.
The Miami Dolphins dismissed McDaniel Thursday. The other seven openings and the coaches who were relieved are Baltimore (John Harbaugh), Cleveland (Kevin Stefanski), the New York Giants (Brian Daboll), Las Vegas (Pete Carroll), Tennessee (Brian Callahan), Arizona (Jonathan Gannon) and Atlanta (Raheem Morris).
The Cardinals, Titans, Falcons and Ravens were reportedly the first to reach out to the 49ers for permission to talk to Saleh, according to Sports Illustrated and ESPN, and more are likely to follow. A year ago, Saleh was a finalist in Jacksonville (the job went to Liam Coen) and was under consideration by Dallas and the Raiders.
Although the regular season ended in hail of missed tackles in a 13-3 loss to Seattle which put the 49ers into the wild-card round rather than drawing a first-round bye, Saleh has been credited with keeping a defense together despite heavy losses due to injury that included star edge rusher Nick Bosa (ACL), linebacker Fred Warner (ankle) and first-round draft pick Mykel Williams (ACL).
The 49ers were 13th in scoring defense and despite some obvious problems in rush (20 sacks) and coverage (six interceptions) and made enough plays in the red zone to give up just 53 percent touchdowns as opposed to 68 a year ago under Nick Sorensen.
The first order of business will be to devise a way to defend a Philadelphia team that has slumped offensively in 2025 but still has a dangerous pass/run quarterback in Jalen Hurts, the defending NFC Offensive Player of the Year in running back Saquon Barkley, two 1,000-yard receivers in A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith and a tight end in Dallas Goedert with 11 touchdowns.
The 49ers missed as many as 18 tackles against Seattle, including a galling 19-yard run on a simple pitch play to Kenneth Walker on a third-and-17. During the game Tatum Bethune, who replaced Warner, was lost for the season with a groin tear. The starting linebackers in Wednesday’s practice included Eric Kendricks, who signed on Nov. 26, and Garret Wallow, signed on Dec. 8.
It was the third game in 13 days for the 49ers, which included three post-bye night games, one in Indianapolis and home games against Chicago and the Seahawks.
“It was definitely a touch stretch, not to give anyone an out, but you’re talking three nationally televised games with the emotions and all that stuff,” Saleh said. “But it doesn’t matter. Your number is called, you’ve got to answer the bell. It’s as simple as taking the proper angles and the extra step . . . we’ve got to be our best when our best is required and we weren’t that on Sunday.”
Some other observations from Saleh Thursday:
On the Eagles’ short-yardage tush-push: “I’m for it. I think if you do something good and the rest of the league hates on that, it’s a good thing, right? If it was easy to do every team in the league would be doing it . . . I always say the best way to stop it is don’t give ’em third-and-1, but they’ll probably get to that eventually.”
Defending Hurts: “He’s got arm talent to make every single throw. Elite deep ball thrower, can get it behind the defense pretty good. He’s good in the pocket. He’s very aware from a pressure standpoint being able to escape, then obviously the QB runs. They don’t do it often, but when they do it’s effective.”
Barkley’s reduced effectiveness: “I know his production isn’t what it was a year ago but he’s still a damn good football player, a threat to break it and any time he touches the ball, they can still run the ball as good as anybody.
The addition of LB Kyzir White: “He’s got familiarity with the system. He was with Gus (Bradley) over at the Chargers and I think we were hoping he’d get to the fifth and the Chargers took him in the fourth. One of those prototypical safeties you could move to linebacker. He knows our system, he can step in if needed to and give us minutes.”
Cornerback Upton Stout’s progress: “For a rookie, especially a guy who plays his play style the violence with which he plays, it’s just getting reps and how he feels the game and where he needs to put his body . . . I don’t think he’s close to done. I think he had his best game Saturday night. He’s a good little player, man. He’s going to be good in this league for a long time.”
Klint Kubiak gaining interest
Klint Kubiak, the Seattle offensive coordinator and brother of Klay Kubiak, has reportedly piqued the interest of five teams that have asked the Seahawks for permission to interview him: Baltimore, Las Vegas, Atlanta and the New York Giants and Arizona.
Klay Kubiak, who could be on the radar of teams next year depending on how the 49ers fare, said he and his brother didn’t make concrete plans as youths to join their father, Gary Kubiak, in aspiring to be a head coach. Gary Kubiak was a head coach in Houston and Denver, winning the last Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium over Carolina.
“I don’t think I ever got into this, either of us, and said we’re doing this to be head coaches,” Klay Kubiak said. “That’s something that would happen naturally if you had success and you were a part of winning teams . . . I’m happy for him that he’s getting some opportunities too. But, I think when it was all said and done and we were done playing and kind of moved on with our lives, we were like, all right, we need to coach. It’s what we’re kind of born to do.”
The Mercury News
Leave a Reply