The twists keep coming in the saga to find the next San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator. Last week, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported the 49ers were “Robert Saleh or bust.” While the intentions are pure, it set San Francisco up for a massive letdown. On Tuesday, reports surfaced via Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud indicating the Buccaneers were preparing for offensive coordinator Liam Coen to accept the Jacksonville Jaguars’ coaching job.
The news was met with delight from 49ers fans, who believed that re-hiring Saleh would be the slam dunk move of the coaching cycle. Unfortunately, on Wednesday, everything changed.
Ahead of his scheduled second meeting with the Jaguars, Coen opted out. Instead, he took himself out of the running and accepted a new contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making him amongst the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Shortly after Coen backed out, Saleh was considered the new favorite to land the Jaguars’ head coaching job. However, the Jaguars then fired general manager Trent Baalke, raising further eyebrows.
Now, Thursday has brought yet another twist.
Coen’s Second Change of Heart
According to Schefter, Coen is in Jacksonville, meeting with the Jaguars one day after agreeing to stay in Tampa Bay on a deal that would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator.
Schefter adds the Buccaneers were expecting Coen to return to the team’s facility today to sign the new contract. When he did not show up, Tampa Bay made multiple efforts to contact him. Yet, Coen never responded to the team directly. Instead, Coen called Buccaneers’ head coach Todd Bowles.
Rick Stroud reports that Coen only briefly mentioned the Jaguars’ job to Bowles, stating he just wanted to “look back into it.” Stroud adds that the primary focus of the call was to let Bowles know Coen had been with one of his kids, who had taken ill, at a doctor’s office.
ESPN’s Jenna Lain furthers the report by Stroud, stating that Bowles did not inform Tampa Bay’s front office, which is why they are blindsided by Coen’s decision. From the outside, observers can see the move as Bowles’s effort to preserve his own job.
Following the firing of Baalke, the Jaguars started bombarding Coen and re-engaging in contract talks, leading to Coen being in Jacksonville discussing a deal to become their new head coach.
49ers Closer to Re-Hiring Saleh
While Tampa Bay and Jacksonville sort through the mess, a clear winner in all of this is the San Francisco 49ers. With Coen seemingly locked in with the Jaguars, Robert Saleh’s odds of returning to San Francisco increase.
According to Dianna Russini and Mike Silver of the Athletic, Robert Saleh did not travel to Jacksonville for his second interview. He was planning on flying into Jacksonville for the interview but never did.
Silver adds, he expects the 49ers to re-hire Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator soon.
After all the chaos has settled, reports indicate the San Francisco 49ers will get their guy.
Saleh spent four seasons with San Francisco from 2017 to 2020. In 2019, his defense was sixth in the league in forced turnovers (27), second in total defense (281.8 yards per game), first in passing defense (169.2 yards per game), and fourth in sacks (48).
In his final two years with San Francisco, Saleh’s defense ranked in the top five–making him a no-brainer to re-hire.
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