The Falcons feel like they have candidates pretty well locked in for their president of football and general manager openings, given that Matt Ryan is the widely reported favorite for the former and Ian
Cunningham is the sole candidate set to be interviewed for the latter. Head coach feels a bit more wide open, and the Falcons just added an intriguing candidate to the mix.
That would be 49ers defensive coordinator and ex-Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who is fresh off a season of turning San Francisco’s injury-ravaged unit into something workable. Albert Breer at Sports Illustrated reports that the Falcons have requested an interview with him, which will have to wait at least a week given that the 49ers are playing this weekend.
The obvious knock on Saleh is that he flamed out as a first-time head coach, and the Falcons just finished firing a second-time head coach with a defensive coordinator background. Lost in that argument is that Saleh did turn the hapless Jets around to the best of his abilities, which meant going from 4-13 and the worst defense in the NFL in his first year to a top ten unit the next two seasons. The offense flailed for reasons ranging from the team’s awful quarterbacking to hiring Nathaniel Hackett to replace Mike LaFleur for reasons that are hard to understand even now, and Saleh shares in the blame for that, but it also felt like he was deeply doomed because he was…well, coaching the Jets.
Saleh as head coach could also likely convince Jeff Ulbrich to stay, given that Ulbrich was his defensive coordinator in New York and a key reason why those defenses were so good. He’d need to nail the offensive coordinator hire in the worst way in Atlanta, but if he does, I’d trust Saleh to have the defense playing good football alongside Ulbrich, handle distractions well, and manage games effectively. He’s not going to be the most intriguing hire for many because of the Jets tenure and his defensive background, but everything I’ve seen of and heard about Saleh over the years has convinced me he’s just a damn good coach who needs his second opportunity to come somewhere less dysfunctional than New York.
We’ll see if he proves to be a top candidate for this job—I’d still expect it to go to an offensive-minded head coach—but Saleh would make my shortlist.
