The Jets have agreed in principle that Robert Saleh, the San Francisco 49ers’ defense coordinator for the past four seasons, will be their head coach.
Saleh becomes the Jets’ 20th head coach in franchise history and their 18th coach is named to Green & White take the reins before the start of a new season.
Under Saleh’s leadership in 2020, San Francisco had a top-10 defense in total yards (fifth), rushing (seventh) and pass yards (fourth). In ’19, San Fran finished second overall in the league overall – with its 281.8 yards / game the team has allowed the best since 1997 – and for the first time in the passing defense – with 169.2 pass yards / game allowed as the best in the NFL since Rex Ryan and the Jets defense allowed 153.7 passes / game in 2009. Following the coaching of the 49ers unit, Saleh received the award of the coordinator of the year from The Sporting News.
Similar rankings have occurred in Saleh’s previous pro-stop in the previous 16 seasons. In Jacksonville from 2014-’16, he was the Jaguars’ lineout coach, and the team improved to sixth overall and fifth place in its final season with the Jags. From 2011-13, he was the Seattle coach for defensive quality, focusing on LBs. The Seahawks’ defense climbed to No. 1 in the league in its final year in the Northwest in 2013.
Saleh held three different titles with Houston in six seasons from 2005-10, and the Texans moved into the top half of the league in many defensive categories in 2009, his first of two seasons as assistant coach.
A native Michigander, Saleh grew up in Dearborn and started at Northern Michigan University for four seasons. Before joining the professional coaching ranks, Saleh expanded his roots in Michigan with two seasons as an assistant coach in the state of Michigan and one in central Michigan before retiring from the University of Georgia shortly before moving to Houston in 2005.