Saleh, who was fired in October as the New York Jets head coach five games into his fourth season, generated interest on the head-coaching front and was seen as one of the frontrunners for the Jacksonville Jaguars job. He also interviewed with the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys.

The 49ers and Jets both enjoyed top-five defenses under Saleh. There’s little reason to expect Saleh to stray away from what’s made his defenses elite. There also may not be m

Robert Saleh, who ran the Niners' defense from 2017 to 2020, is heading back to San Francisco for the same role after a three-plus-year stint as Jets coach.

Robert Saleh has been a popular name mentioned as a potential candidate to succeed Aaron Glenn as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. The former New York Jets head coach is a Detroit native who was a finalist for becoming the Lions’ head coach when the team hired Dan Campbell.

A day after The Athletic reported that the San Francisco 49ers were about to stage a reunion with Robert Saleh, the club announced Friday that the former New York Jets head coach is returning to his old job as defensive coordinator.

Robert Saleh and the 49ers were waiting for the former Jets head coach to be out of the mix for head coaching jobs before making his hire official.

The San Francisco 49ers are bringing back Robert Saleh for a second stint as defensive coordinator after a failed tenure as head coach of the New York Jets.