Are the 49ers Waiting to for Robert Saleh to get Fired?
The 49ers currently don't have a defensive coordinator.
Theoretically, they could have their pick of any available defensive coach, because their personnel is outstanding. Who wouldn't want to coach Nick Bosa and Fred Warner?
But the 49ers don't want to deviate from what they've been doing schematically the past seven seasons. And Bosa and Warner both seem to have a big say into who the defensive coordinator will be. Because once Bosa made it known that Wilks didn't have the defense prepared for specific plays in the Super Bowl, Wilks was fired three days later.
So the 49ers have to be careful if they bring in another outsider to be their defensive coordinator. Unless of course that outsider is Robert Saleh.
Saleh isn't really an outsider -- he was the 49ers defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020. And he isn't exactly available, either -- he's the head coach of the New York Jets, for now. That organization is dreadful and he hasn't made the playoffs in three seasons as head coach. If they start out slow next season, they could fire him before it ends, because remember, that organization really stinks.
It's possible the 49ers expect Saleh to get fired either midway through the upcoming season or right after it. And if they want Saleh back, it's possible they'll wait for him, which would mean promoting someone already on the coaching staff to defensive coordinator temporarily in a pseudo-interim position until Saleh is available.
I fully expect Saleh to return to the 49ers as their defensive coordinator sooner or later.
