Newly-appointed Jets head coach Robert Saleh is well-known for his passionate sideline demeanor and how he systematically turned the 49ers defense into one of the best units in the league over his four-year span. A lot of that can be attributed to Saleh’s own personal style of coaching, but it also comes from his background working with some of the best minds in the NFL.
Saleh began his coaching career with the Texans in 2005, first as a defensive intern and then as a defensive quality control coach and assistant linebackers coach. Saleh was in Houston with Kyle Shanahan – then the wide receivers coach and eventually the 49ers head coach who hired Saleh in 2017 – and also saw first-hand how to rebuild an organization under the direction of Gary Kubiak.
The Texans were 18-36 during their four years of existence prior to Kubiak’s hiring but went 37-43 during Saleh’s final five years with the team. It’s not a great improvement, but the year after Saleh left for Seattle, Houston did win the AFC South in back-to-back seasons.
It wasn’t until Saleh joined the Seahawks in 2011, though, that the lessons really began. Under the direction of head coach Pete Caroll, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., Saleh learned the ins and outs of how to build a great defense. During Saleh’s three years in Seattle, the defense ranked seventh, first and first in yards allowed and fourth, first and first in points allowed.
Even more important than defensive schematics, though, was a coaching philosophy Saleh said he observed from Caroll’s staff. The Seahawks have been one of the most successful teams in the league since Caroll took over in 2010 and a lot of that can be attributed to coaching and talent development.
The Seahawks cultivated homegrown talent and worked with players to produce the Legion of Boom that won a Super Bowl in 2013 – Saleh’s final year in Seattle – and almost won another in 2014. They accomplished so much, in part, by turning late-round draft picks like Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and K.J. Wright into household names and developing early-round picks like Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner into stars.
“The biggest influence I took from coach Carroll is from a philosophy standpoint,” Saleh told ESPN in 2017. “Understanding who you are as a person. Understanding what’s important to you as a person. And, how to apply it to the message that you’re trying to deliver. Understanding that everybody has a style and that every style is the right style provided you apply it in the right way. So, just from a philosophy standpoint, speaking to people, handling people is where I have my greatest growth from coach Carroll.”
Saleh transferred that mentality to Jacksonville when he joined Bradley’s staff as a linebackers coach in 2014. Though the Jaguars didn’t win much – Jacksonville won only 11 games in Saleh’s three years there and Bradley was fired before the end of the 2016 season – Saleh helped develop linebacker Telvin Smith and the defense improved from 26th in points allowed in 2014 to sixth in 2016.
Everything came together once Saleh joined Shanahan and the 49ers in 2017. All of the learnings, observations and ideas formed into one of the NFL’s most successful defenses. Shanahan explained Saleh planned everything when he hired him as defensive coordinator, according to SI’s Robert Klemko.
“He knew exactly what he wanted to do. Mapped out from beginning to end,” Shanahan said n 2017. “It was a fool-proof plan, and you could tell he’s been thinking about it for a long time.”
The 49ers’ defense improved over the first three seasons under Saleh, culminating in a top-two defensive DVOA finish, per Football Outsiders, and a Super Bowl berth. The defense finished second in yards allowed that year and eighth in points. Saleh’s defense faltered in 2020 after a bevy of injuries decimated the defensive line and secondary, but the unit still finished sixth in DVOA and fifth in yards allowed.
“The system has evolved into its own unique deal within the league,” Saleh said at the end of the 2020 season, per the Mercury News. “We’re not old-school Seattle like when we came in here. We created a system unique to the 49ers. It’s been cool because we’ve been able to do it together, not only as a staff but the players who’ve been here. It’s been a great experience.”
Saleh may have learned how to build a great defense from his earlier coaching stops, but he credits his 49ers bosses with how to run an organization, a mentality he will likely bring with him to the Jets.
“If you look at how teams run themselves, Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch], in my eyes, they’re the standard,” he said. “They’re phenomenal.”
Now in New York, Saleh will be on his own at the top. He’ll have his coaching staff and GM Joe Douglas around him, but Saleh’s influence will be seen all over the team as it heads into the 2021 season. It will be a challenge, but not one Saleh doesn’t have lessons and mentors to pull from in his pursuit of building a winning culture with the Jets.