Has 49ers' Robert Saleh rebounded back into head coach talks? - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- With a quarterback to pay, more than a dozen pending free agents and an aging nucleus, the San Francisco 49ers entered the 2025 offseason with plenty of uncertainty. But there was one move they knew they wanted to make above all others: bring Robert Saleh back for a second stint as defensive coordinator. "Whether we played with a bunch of young guys, old guys, I wanted Robert Saleh on our staff," general manager John Lynch said. "We were in pursuit of Robert as soon as we knew that was a viable option." That pursuit didn't come sans drama. The New York Jets had fired Saleh as coach five games into the 2024 season, and he went on to spend the final weeks of the campaign as a consultant for the Green Bay Packers . But when the season was over, Saleh had no shortage of suitors for his services -- whether as a potential head coach or as a coordinator. On Jan. 7, the Niners fired Nick Sorensen after one season as their defensive coordinator. They immediately reached out to Saleh, who ran their defense from 2017 to 2020. During initial discussions, they made it clear they were willing to make Saleh one of the highest-paid defensive coordinators in the NFL and that they didn't want anyone else for the job. In the ensuing 17 days, Lynch and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan anxiously waited for Saleh to sort through his options. There were head coaching interviews with the Dallas Cowboys , the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars . According to league sources familiar with the discussions, Saleh was the perceived leader in Jacksonville for about 24 hours before Liam Coen opted to take the job after initially declining. Saleh also was a finalist for the Raiders' coaching job then rejected an offer to be the Raiders' defensive coordinator and the eventual successor to coach Pete Carroll. Saleh finally reunited with the Niners on Jan. 24. Saleh told ESPN recently that he was "always" going to return to San Francisco unless he got a head coaching job. "He was definitely our first choice; we were hoping that we would be his, and that's what he told me early on," Shanahan said. "I was glad he stuck with his word or we would've had beef." Saleh has rewarded the Niners' patience with his blend of energy, familiar but evolving scheme and player-friendly messaging. He has their patchwork defense -- which lost star veterans Nick Bosa and Fred Warner early in the season -- staying afloat in the face of adversity and straining to exceed the sum of its parts. A win Monday night ( 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC ) at the Indianapolis Colts would clinch a playoff spot for San Francisco and shine further light on Saleh's candidacy for another head coaching opportunity. And some coaches around the league already believe he will get another shot -- if he wants it. Saleh knew nothing would come...

Preview: ~500 words