A group of elected officials in Michigan has sent a letter to Detroit Lions owner Sheila Hamp Ford asking her to hire Dearborn native Robert Saleh as the new head coach of the team.
Saleh is currently the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers and is widely considered one of the leading candidates to earn a head coaching gig this offseason. And some members of the Michigan state legislature, led by Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, have asked Ford to make that happen in Detroit.
“We understand the difficulty of these upcoming decisions,” the bipartisan letter reads. “As passionate and loyal Lions fans, we are asking you to hire Robert Saleh as the head coach of our team. He is the best candidate for the job and measures as such across every metric. A head coach like Robert can bring tremendous energy and heart to the franchise and would help us reach peaks that have seemed unobtainable for so long. We have an exceptional opportunity here and we trust you to make the best decision.
“To turn the corner and become a winning franchise, these next hiring decisions are critical. We hope that you will consider Robert Saleh as the head coach, not only for us, but for everyone across the loyal fanbase of our beloved Detroit Lions.”
Saleh grew up in Dearborn, attended Fordson High School near the team’s training facility and played collegiately at Northern Michigan. Hammoud represents Dearborn in the state House of Representatives, though over 30 other members of the state congress also signed.