The San Francisco 49ers are excited to have Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator once again. Saleh is a defensive genius who worked wonders in San Francisco during his last tenure with the team. The 49ers gave Saleh plenty of toys to play with during the 2025 NFL Draft. It will be exciting to see what he does with the defense this fall.

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 to 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 rejoined 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.”

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

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh reacts against the Minnesota Vikings in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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.