The future of the San Francisco 49ers defense could be decided over the next three days as the Jacksonville Jaguars coaching search winds down.
Jacksonville has second interviews scheduled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will be Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Thursday is Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, and Friday is former 49ers DC and New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
Saleh is the No. 1 target for the 49ers in their hunt for a defensive coordinator. A reunion makes a ton of sense. San Francisco wants to find an experienced DC who can bring some of the fire and in-game adaptability that helped define the best versions of the 49ers defense during head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure.
Given Saleh’s prior success with the 49ers, it’s no wonder they set their sites on him early in the process and have only announced his interview and one other (Detroit Lions DBs coach Deshea Townsend).
However, his candidacy with the 49ers rides on whether he receives a head coaching job, which appears to be determined over the three days of second interviews.
In an ideal world, the 49ers won’t have to wait past Wednesday after Coen’s second interview. According to the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud, that’s what the Buccaneers are bracing for.
If Coen doesn’t get the offer Wednesday, we’ll likely see the wait continue for the 49ers into the weekend. It’s not ideal that they’ve put themselves in a spot where the success of their defense could come down to how well other coaches do in second interviews in Jacksonville. That’s the position the 49ers find themselves in though, so the next few days will be big for their franchise.
All eyes on Jacksonville.