49ers complete defensive coordinator interviews with two candidates who could hardly be more different
The San Francisco 49ers are on the hunt for a coordinator who can revitalize a defense that faded badly in 2024, and their search might lead them back who first ran that unit for head coach Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco announced on Thursday it has completed an interview with Robert Saleh for the defensive coordinator […]
The San Francisco 49ers are on the hunt for a coordinator who can revitalize a defense that faded badly in 2024, and their search might lead them back who first ran that unit for head coach Kyle Shanahan.
San Francisco announced on Thursday it has completed an interview with Robert Saleh for the defensive coordinator position, which he held from 2017 to 2020, overseeing the defense that helped the 49ers to Super Bowl 54 in the 2019 season.
Additionally, the 49ers confirmed they had also completed an interview with Detroit Lions defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach DeShea Townsend.
Saleh was fired as head coach of the New York Jets in October and has been working as a consultant for the Green Bay Packers since his dismissal. He is set to interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders about their head coaching roles.
He is in the mix to return for the 49ers after they relieved Nick Sorensen of his duties after one season. Sorensen is very much a disciple of the Seattle Cover 3 scheme that has served as the foundation of the defense throughout Shanahan's time as head coach.
Asked if he is open to potential changes to the scheme, Shanahan told a press conference on Wednesday:
"I love the scheme that we’ve had here. I think it’s one of the hardest things to go to when you’ve got the right guys in the right spots. But, I do think people adjust to schemes, and I think you have to adjust too depending on your personnel. And I think that was a tougher thing for us this year. Just going into the season, it was a little bit harder than past seasons and some of the injuries we had, I think, made it really tough for Nick. And I thought he got better trying to adjust and do different things, but I do think that’s something that definitely, I’m not saying you’ve got to change schemes, but you have to have the ability, the history and the knowledge of how to change some stuff up when you’re in some certain situations. And I think that we do need that more going forward."
As a play-caller, Saleh has traditionally stuck to the principles of that 49ers scheme of rushing four and playing predominantly zone coverage. Shanahan will obviously be familiar with his changeups from years gone by, but it appears likely from his comments that the interview with Saleh will have focused heavily on potential situational tweaks to the scheme and on his adaptability.
Townsend would represent a departure from the scheme, having played a critical role working with a Lions pass defense that played the highest rate of Cover 1 in the NFL in the 2024 regular season.
Shanahan said of the Lions defense prior to their Week 17 encounter: "And then the defense, I know they’ve battled through a lot of injuries, but their secondary is as good as there is.
"And what they can create with their pressures and things like that because of their man coverage makes them very tough to be consistent with."
It's no secret then that Shanahan is a fan of Townsend's work with Detroit. The question is how what Townsend has done with Lions can be applied to the 49ers' defensive system.
The 49ers aren't wasting any time in their defensive coordinator search, and, from a schematic standpoint, their first two interviewees could hardly be more different.
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