The New York Jets’ head coach came up during Kyle Shanahan’s Wednesday media session
Three days removed from losing Super Bowl LVIII, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to the media on Wednesday, announcing the team is parting ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
Coming up in the discussion was Shanahan’s former defensive coordinator with San Francisco, current New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
According to 49ers reporter Rob Guerrera, Shanahan said that hiring another energetic defensive coordinator isn’t something he necessarily wants. Saleh, of course, was known for his fervent energy during his time with San Francisco. This led Shanahan to say, “Watch Saleh now, he’s not that energetic.”
Shanahan says hiring another energetic D Coordinator isn't something he necessarily wants. Nor was it a reason Wilks was fired.
"Watch Saleh now, he's not that energetic."
— Rob “Stats” Guerrera (@statsonfire on threads) (@StatsOnFire) February 14, 2024
Clearly, Shanahan has taken notice of the Jets’ struggles and is trying to say that winning trumps everything else. It’s hard to get energetic when your team isn’t winning games.
Saleh was known as one of the most enthusiastic coaches in the NFL during his time with the 49ers. You would constantly see him on the sidelines screaming at the top of his lungs or running onto the field to jump up and down with his players.
#49ers DC Robert Saleh wanted to celebrate with his defense and took a tumble. He was pumped. pic.twitter.com/VbSLDJKHJB
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 16, 2018
I’ll miss that Robert Saleh energy. #49ers pic.twitter.com/x3PU9nMXTi
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) January 15, 2021
Saleh's energy remains unmatched 🔥 @49ers
📺 + 📱: #SFvsAZ on @SportsOnPrimehttps://t.co/y4JTzcFjhE pic.twitter.com/iHRIrVJVC0
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 27, 2020
While Saleh certainly still brings plenty of energy to the sidelines as the Jets’ head coach – you’ll occasionally see some moments just like the three shown above – it does feel like his overall enthusiasm and fire have dwindled a bit from where they were in San Francisco (at least based on what he shows publicly).
And how can you blame him? The Jets aren’t winning. Over three years, that will take its toll on anyone. If the team starts figuring out how to win some football games, that classic Saleh energy from San Francisco will surely return.
Of course, whether or not the Jets start earning those coveted victories is largely up to Saleh himself. In San Francisco, it was easy for him to be a ball of energy on the sidelines, as he only had to focus on one phase of the game. But as the head coach, you have to manage the entire game and monitor what’s going on in all three phases. It’s a completely different job.
So far, Saleh has not been up to that job, but he will get another chance to improve in 2024. He’ll be hoping to build a breakout similar to the one that Shanahan put together in his third season with San Francisco. Shanahan went 10-22 over his first two seasons with the 49ers before going 13-3 in 2019 and making it to the Super Bowl.
Saleh’s third season did not go quite as swimmingly, although the Jets had legitimate hopes of a similarly successful season before Aaron Rodgers got hurt. Team owner Woody Johnson seems content with giving Saleh a pass for 2023 and essentially viewing 2024 as his true third season.
With Rodgers (hopefully) healthy in 2024, the goal is for Saleh to follow in Shanahan’s footsteps as a young head coach who started off rocky but found their groove after getting time to figure things out.
