49ers’ Robert Saleh begins his attempt to rejuvenate a broken defense
SANTA CLARA — Robert Saleh is the 49ers’ third defensive coordinator in three years but comes with familiarity in terms of the system.
Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are the only defensive players on the roster who played under Saleh from 2017-20, and Bosa missed most of Saleh’s last season with a torn ACL.
Bosa chooses his words carefully and is loath to criticize either teammates or coaches. When Steve Wilks took over for DeMeco Ryans, Bosa noted that Wilks had a lot of experience coaching “the back end,” meaning cornerbacks and safeties.
Wilks lasted just one year, giving way to Nick Sorensen, and after the 49ers defense collapsed down the stretch of a 6-11 season, it wasn’t as if Bosa gave him a full-throated endorsement to return.
“I think he’s a good coach, but it’s not my decision,” Bosa said after the 49ers gave up 116 points in their last three games — all losses.
So when Bosa said this week that Saleh’s “commanding presence in the defensive meetings is what we needed,” go ahead and assume the veteran, professorial Wilks and first-time defensive coordinator Sorensen didn’t exactly fire up the troops.
Perhaps no coordinator in the NFL is under more pressure than Saleh, whom the 49ers pounced on in the offseason following his dismissal last Oct. 8 as head coach of the New York Jets. Saleh did some consulting for Green Bay, had a couple of head coaching interviews, but ultimately returned to the 49ers.
Other than Jeff Ulbrich, a former 49ers linebacker who was on Saleh’s staff, there was little or no buzz about any other candidate to run the 49ers defense. Ulbrich is now the defensive coordinator in Atlanta.
Saleh is energetic and enthusiastic, a sideline dervish who got lots of camera time when he was with the 49ers. He’s got a level of charisma and energy that was missing with Wilks and Sorensen. Saleh will need every bit of it to teach and inspire a 49ers defense that will be loaded with new faces.
He is preaching process and repetition, and said his version of the same 49ers scheme has been simplified enough to espouse Saleh’s “all gas, no brakes” philosophy of full speed ahead in terms of preparation and play.
“Fear not the man who has 10,000 kicks that he practices one time each,” Saleh said Thursday after the 49ers’ second practice of training camp. “Fear the man who has one kick that he practices 10,000 times. That’s what we’re trying to get these guys to understand — what techniques they have and then try to rep it as many times as possible.”
Bosa, Warner and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir are the 49ers’ defensive cornerstones, with a lot of holes to fill elsewhere. A rookie class that includes first-round defensive end Mykel Williams, second-round defensive tackle Alfred Williams, third-round linebacker Nick Martin, third-round cornerback Upton Stout, fourth-round defensive tackle C.J. West and fifth-round safety Marques Sigle could all be starters sooner rather than later.
“I think all of them are doing a really good job trying to absorb the playbook,” Saleh said. “You know, it’s different than when we first got here way back in ‘17 or even ‘19. The league’s evolved, the defense has evolved. So, it’s a little bit more on their plate than what it’s been in the past. But I think they’re all doing a great job absorbing it all.”
A host of defenders departed, with Maliek Collins, Justin Hargrave and Leonard Floyd getting released, cornerback Charvarius Ward, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga departing in free agency.
From 2021 through his dismissal in 2024, Saleh was 23-45 in the critical crucible of New York media. So he’s used criticism, whether valid or over-the-top. Not that he’s worrying about it.
“The coaching profession is constant pressure,” Saleh said. “If you’re asking me about stress and worrying about things I have no control over, I don’t. We’re going to give our full attention to the player to put them in the best position possible. We trust that position is going to be pretty good. You hope things fall your way, but as far as trying to make stuff up and make things happen, that’s kind of when you get in trouble.”