Jacksonville Jaguars decision to pursue Robert Saleh as HC makes sense

The Jacksonville Jaguars could use Robert Saleh’s expertise.

You might remember Robert Saleh was the Jaguars linebackers coach from 2014 to 2016. During that span, the defense as a whole wasn’t very good, but the team had a couple of studs in Telvin Smith and Paul Posluszny during that span.

Saleh was then hired as the 49ers defensive coordinator in 2017. In his first year on the job, San Francisco had a 6-10 record and its defense ranked 25th in points allowed. While this is nothing to brag about, it was a step in the right direction after ranking dead last in points given up the season before. The unit regressed in 2018 and surrendered the 28th most points in the NFL.

In 2019, the 49ers reached the Super Bowl on the strength of their defense, which was the second-best in yards allowed and eighth in point. Saleh started to get recognition and interviewed for a few head-coaching openings, but in the end, he stayed in ‘San Fran’.

Saleh did a good job leading the 49ers defense once again in 2020 even though the unit was marred by injuries and was without key players such as defensive end Nick Bosa and cornerback Richard Sherman for most of the year.