The 2024 campaign was a rough one for the San Francisco 49ers, and after wrapping up their season with a 47-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the team fired their defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen. As a result, the team needs to fill the position, and they could turn to old friend Robert Saleh as they look to shore up their defense. While the Niners had a rough go of it in 2024, it was even worse for the former New York Jets head coach. Saleh got fired after just five games, with the Jets believing he was the source of their slow start. Considering how they finished the year with a 5-12 record, it’s clear that Saleh was not New York’s biggest problem.

Now that he’s on the open market, Saleh is drawing interest as a head coach and a defensive coordinator. San Fran is interested in bringing him back to man the spot he used to turn himself into one of the top head coach candidates in the NFL, as they announced that they had interviewed him for their defensive coordinator position. “The 49ers complete interview with Robert Saleh for vacant DC position,” the team shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The #49ers complete interview with Robert Saleh for vacant DC position. — San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) January 9, 2025 Prior to taking the Jets head coaching gig, Saleh worked on Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco as the team’s defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020. With Shanahan still in San Fran, and the team’s defense needing a boost, bringing Saleh back to town makes a lot of sense, and it’s encouraging to see he’s already spoken to the team.

It’s also worth noting that Saleh has earned head coaching interviews with both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders, so it’s not exactly a sure thing he’s going to return to the 49ers. If neither of those gigs pan out, though, it seems like there’s a decent chance he could rejoin Shanahan and the Niners as their new DC.