The lack of interviews are telling, and the 49ers could very well be playing the waiting game
We’re a couple of weeks removed from the regular season, and the San Francisco 49ers have only interviewed three candidates for their vacant defensive coordinator position and four for special teams. Fair or not, we can likely eliminate four of those due to the farce known as the Rooney Rule.
At the end of the season, head coach Kyle Shanahan said, “I love Nick as a person, and I love him as a coach. Still trying to hope to keep him on board in another capacity because he is a guy I don’t want to lose.”
Of course, he’s talking about Nick Sorensen, the first-time defensive coordinator who was relieved of those duties but will remain on the 49ers staff. Since Sorensen has ample special teams experience, giving him the special teams coordinator title would be an easy transition.
Of the other candidates that were interviewed, Jett Modkins (29), Chris Banjo (34), and Chris Tabor (53), only one has tenure in the NFL. So, unless the 49ers were impressed with Tabor, it feels like it’s a matter of when Sorensen is named as the new special teams coordinator for San Francisco.
If the 49ers have tipped their hand for their potential special team’s coordinator, they put their cards on the table face up and told the dealer what they have before said dealer was done dealing.
Brandon Staley was interviewed, as was Deshea Townsend of the Detroit Lions. Townsend’s interview was done virtually, as was Robert Saleh’s. That’s usually how Rooney Rule interviews are done.
I imagine Saleh’s interview lasted ten minutes. Shanahan asked him if he wanted the job and what it would take. Then Saleh laid out the criteria, told Shanahan he was still taking head coaching interviews, and said the two would reconvene in a month.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, the 49ers are comfortable waiting for Saleh and are willing to make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league:
“It’s Robert Saleh or bust, really. Because they haven’t done much work with anybody else to this point. I’ve heard that they already told Saleh ‘we will make you the highest paid defensive coordinator in all the land if you sign with us’. So now it’s just a matter of waiting for Saleh.”
After his stint in New York, Saleh could very well be over all of the duties and headaches that come with being a head coach. Then again, it’s one of the most coveted jobs in sports, and Saleh remains a hot candidate after his Jets defenses performed.
It seems the 49ers are betting other organizations hire some young, up-and-coming offensive mind, leaving Saleh available for them to sign. Knowing that the Niners have Staley as their only fallback option is risky. But it’s a risk Shanahan is evidently willing to take.