The San Francisco 49ers are expected to hire Robert Saleh as the new defensive coordinator of the team, According to Atlético.
Saleh, who played that role with the 49ers between 2017 and 2020, has been out of work since he was fired by New York Jets in October.
He has interviewed several chief training roles in recent weeks and it was thought that he was a main candidate with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
However, that race took a wild turn on Thursday when the offensive coordinator of Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Liam Coen, returned to the race and closed in a movement through Florida.
Saleh had to fly to Jacksonville on Thursday for another interview with the Jaguars, but canceled his flight once Coen's news came out.
He is now prepared to return to San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan and resume the reigns of the defensive system that he created in 2017.
The San Francisco 49ers are expected to hire Robert Saleh as their new defensive coordinator
Saleh created one of the nfl's badiest defense with the 49ers between 2017 and 2020
The 49ers fired Nick Sorensen earlier this month after just one season on paper and looked for their fourth defensive coordinator in the last four seasons.
Demeco Ryans left after his second season on paper in 2022 to become a chief coach of the Houston Texans and Steve Wilks was fired after the 2023 season when San Francisco went to Super Bowl.
The 49ers backed this season under Sorensen while the unity full of injuries fought to create ball losses, stop the race and create a constant pressure on quarterback.
San Francisco has executed a similar system in recent years to one started during Saleh's mandate, but Shanahan said that he wants a coordinator who can better adapt to the staff and that he is open to change the scheme.
Saleh helped build a defense that was one of the most dominant units in the league in recent years. He was Shanahan's first defensive coordinator in 2017 and fought the first two seasons.
But after the team wrote the defensive wing Nick Bosa in 2019 and implemented the 'Wide Nine' scheme that presented the edge corridors that were aligned and focused on climbing the field, the defense took off.
San Francisco went to Super Bowl in the 2019 season and still had a strong season the next season when Bosa lost almost all year with a knee injury, which led Saleh to get the work of chief coach with the New York Jets .
Saleh was fired in the middle of last season, but the jets had a strong defense under their mandate.