Though there could be others.
Another day, another post about the status of Robert Saleh. The San Francisco 49ers reportedly want to bring back their former defensive coordinator and former New York Jets head coach as the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league. As you know, that’s contingent on what happens in the head coach hiring cycle.
And Saleh has some suitors. SI’s Albert Breer wrote in his mailbag this week that Ben Johnson and Robert Saleh are favorites for the Jacksonville head coaching job.
Depressed, I see that as fluid. I think Shad Khan will hire a coach, and then map things out from there. If it’s Ben Johnson, I would guess that Trent Baalke is gone. If it’s Robert Saleh, maybe Baalke winds up staying.
And, I’d probably call those two favorites. I know the Jacksonville Jaguars like both. (There could be other candidates they feel as strongly about.)
So, they’re favorites, but there might be others? We know Saleh interviewed with the Jaguars as well as the Dallas Cowboys. It doesn’t seem like the Jaguars are necessarily zeroing in on Saleh yet with that statement.
If Saleh took the Jaguars job, it’d also be a good way for Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke to get one on the 49ers. As you might remember, Baalke was the GM around these parts. Despite putting together one dismal team after another, the organization kept him around until moving on from both him and Chip Kelly at the close of the 2016 season. Baalke has had the same job security in Jacksonville despite the teams he’s turned in, so this could be his chance to get one on the 49ers and secure Saleh. Whether those two can work together is another question entirely.
Breer answered separate questions, saying that if the 49ers don’t get Saleh, they would “restart things” in terms of the hiring process. It does seem like the 49ers are putting all their chips into the Saleh hire. Even if they secure Saleh, his longevity isn’t secured. Given all the interest in Saleh, the 49ers might find themselves back in this position again next year, which would be three defensive coordinators in as many years.
On the other hand, the 49ers also interviewed Dennis Allen for the position. Allen flamed out as head coach of the then-Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints, which gives the 49ers the longevity they may need at the defensive coordinator position. Should the 49ers get Allen, it would take some time before he’s again considered for a head coaching position due to his previous job history.
We’ll probably receive more reports on this as the hiring process continues until Saleh has exhausted all his options. So, for now, more of nothing might be on the docket.