Saleh explained in a recent interview that his defensive scheme has evolved a lot since his last stint in San Francisco.

“You’re always trying to stay two years ahead of offense,” Saleh said. “When we went to the Jets, there was a lot of different things that we started to do, and even now while we have some things from the Jets, there’s stuff that has evolved over the course of the last four years here, and obviously with the league that there’s stuff happening.”

Saleh was the defensive coordinator in San Francisco from 2017-2020. He left after the 2020 season to become the head coach of the New York Jets.

The Jets fired Saleh early in the 2024 season. He re-joined the 49ers early in the 2025 offseason.

Saleh even admitted to adding some “cool” new concepts to his defense during the offseason.

“Over this offseason, a lot of really cool concepts, a lot of really cool things,” Saleh continued. “Some things are the same, some things are the same from the Jets, some things are meshed, some things are coming in that’s new. … A lot of it may seem similar but there’s a lot of nuances that makes a difference.”

Robert Saleh did not entertain any non-49ers job opportunities this offseason

Saleh was always destined to return to San Francisco.

Saleh admitted on Thursday that he did not consider job opportunities with any other NFL team this offseason. He was determined to return to the 49ers.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for this organization. … If you think about those first two years as the coordinator in ’17 and ’18, it wasn’t easy. And it could have been very easy for them to move on for me,” Saleh told reporters on Thursday. “I’m indebted to this organization, to those men, for the rest of my life. They stuck with me, and we made it happen. We did what we needed to do, and the rest is history. I’m excited about the opportunity to get a chance to do it again with them.”

Hopefully the addition of Saleh will improve San Francisco’s defense this fall.