PHOENIX – Robert Saleh is getting his second opportunity as a head coach in Tennessee, with the Titans.
Kyle Shanahan, his long-time friend and former boss with the San Francisco 49ers, is happy for him.
Well, mostly happy.
"I'm not that happy – I (didn't) want to lose him," Shanahan, head coach of the 49ers, said with a smile on Monday morning from the NFL owners meetings.
He then turned more serious.
"I was real happy for Robert," Shanahan said. "Robert deserves to be a head coach – he is one of the better coaches in this league. I thought he got a raw deal the first time (with the Jets)."
In 2025, Saleh served his second stint as defensive coordinator with the 49ers.
Earlier, Saleh also spent four seasons (2017-20) as the defensive coordinator for the 49ers under Shanahan, and San Francisco went to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2020 season. In 2019, Saleh was named Coordinator of the Year by Sporting News after leading the 49ers defense to rank second in the NFL in total yards allowed per game (281.8), the fewest total yards allowed per game by the team since 1997 (250.8).
Saleh spent three-plus seasons (2021-24) as head coach of the Jets, where his teams went a combined 20-36 before he was dismissed.
In Tennessee, Saleh has hired Brian Daboll as his offensive coordinator and Gus Bradley, who also served under Shanahan in San Francisco, as his defensive coordinator.
The Titans have added 17 players in free agency, and the team has acquired two more players via trade.
"It looks like he is in a good situation (in Tennessee)," Shanahan said of Saleh. "We hated losing him with the 49ers. But I'm real happy for him and (his wife) Sanaa, and I know he's going to do a hell of a job in Tennessee."
