Why 49ers' Robert Saleh is the NFL's top head-coach candidate

It's a down year for offensive coaches.

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The San Francisco 49ers defense has been surviving despite injuries, and a lot of that credit has been given to Robert Saleh. Saleh was always expected to use the 49ers as a pit stop to regain his strong reputation as a head coaching candidate and parlay this into a new job.

While the 49ers defense is not in the top of many statistical categories, he has quickly risen to the top of the coaching candidate pool.

Is Robert Saleh the best head coaching candidate in the NFL?

The Ringer ranked the top 30 candidates currently across the NFL and they put Saleh all the way up at number one. 

The 49ers also lost defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner to season-ending injuries this fall, but Saleh has kept this unit afloat well enough to get San Francisco to the playoffs. The 49ers don’t play the prettiest brand of defense right now—they like to sit in zone coverage and force offenses to dink and dunk down the field—but we know what Saleh’s defense can be when it has the necessary pieces.

I trust Saleh to build a playoff-level defense no matter where he ends up next, and I don’t lay too much blame on him for the failings of the Jets offense during his tenure as head coach.

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The top ten is rounded out with Mike McCarthy, Kliff Kingsbury, Joe Brady, Steve Spanuolo, Jesse Minter, Todd Monken, Brian Flores, Lou Anarumo, and Anthony Weaver. If you compare Saleh to the rest of the top ten, it is easy to see why they came to that conclusion. 

First, the thing going against Saleh is that he is a defensive head coach in an offensive NFL. If he nails the offensive coordinator hire, he may have helped another team find a new head coach. If he does not nail the OC, he is going to get fired again. It is a tough spot to be in, and it is why a lot of teams are leaning toward an offensive-minded leader. 

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On offense, the top names are McCarthy, Kingsbury, Brady, and Monken. Kingsbury is coming off of a down year, and McCarthy and Monken are both older. Monken has not gotten much serious consideration despite being a long-time coordinator. 

On defense, Spagnulo and Anarumo come off as long-time defensive coordinators, and this role is where they are best.  Both are much older than Saleh as well. Flores obviously brings up the issue of how his last stop ended, and Weaver is coaching a Dolphins defense that has not been great. 

Minter and Brady make a lot of sense as young, hot coordinators on playoff teams. They do not have the baggage of failing elsewhere, and you can understand why any team would choose them over Saleh. However, other than that, it is pretty clear why Saleh is a top candidate. 

How the 49ers end the season may be important for Saleh getting a job. What may be just as important is that this is year without a lot of strong, defined candidates. Saleh may lead the pack.