The Arizona Cardinals are knee deep in trying to find their next head coach. There is a list that grows every week. The big debate is whether the franchise should hire another defensive coach, or if the offense needs the most attention and go that route.
RELATED: SALEH GETS LATE-NIGHT INTERVIEW
The DC for the San Francisco 49ers, Robert Saleh, is on the Cardinals’ list. Come to think about it, Saleh is on a bunch of teams’ prospect interview lists. He is a hot commodity this year. After being fired from the New York Jets and back with the Niners, he picked up right where he left off and rebuilt San Fran’s defense back to respectability.
And everyone has taken note. There are numerous media articles stating that Saleh could become the Cardinals’ next head coach. He is not the odds-on favorite – that belongs to Denver Broncos DC Vance Joseph – but he is high on the inventory of names tabulated.
But who is Saleh? Where did he come from? What are his qualifications?
Beginnings
Robert Jalal Saleh, age 46, was raised in Dearborn, Michigan. His heritage is from Lebanon. His grandparents on his father’s side were refugees who were forced out of Lebanon after civil war broke out in the late 1940s. His father, Sam, was born in Michigan. Saleh’s mother, Fatin, was born in Lebanon and then emigrated to America.
Sam Saleh played football at Eastern Michigan along the defensive line. Upon graduation, Sam went undrafted and had a tryout with the Chicago Bears but was not offered a training camp contract. Eastern Michigan offered him a coaching job, but he instead went back home to Dearborn to join the family real estate business.
Robert Saleh played tight end at Northern Michigan. Upon graduation, he entered the business world as a loan officer at Comerica Bank using his degree in finance. He was making money and was content for a 22-year old, but was not happy.
Robert’s brother, David, was in one of the World Trade Center buildings on 9-11 in the second tower. Somehow, he made it out alive. It was this incident that Robert decided to follow his dream, ditch finance and the downtown corporate universe, and pursue a coaching career.
He knew he needed to be back on the football field.
Michigan State hired him as a graduate assistant in 2002. At the same time, Robert worked on his master’s degree in kinesiology. After two years, he got a job as the assistant DL coach at Central Michigan, followed by a year as the assistant LB coach at Georgia, where he made $900 a month.
In 2006, Gary Kubiak was named the new head coach of the Houston Texans. Robert interviewed and was hired as the defensive quality-control coach. In 2010, Kubiak fired the entire defensive coaching staff. For the first time, Saleh was unemployed, and his wife had just given birth to their first son three months prior.
He traveled to the Senior Bowl, an unofficial NFL convention, where many assistant coaches are interviewed for open positions. Yet, Saleh did not get a single interview at age 31.
Then Saleh found out that the Seahawks had an opening for a quality control coach. Since Seattle wasn’t in the playoffs, all of the coaches were on vacation. For two weeks. This was a problem for an aggressive coach looking to interview. In the end, he scheduled a meeting with head coach Pete Carroll and was hired under DC Gus Bradley, who would take an interest in Saleh.
It was in Seattle that he learned to become a good football coach. Saleh learned that if he tried to be someone else, if he wanted to steal from someone else, and that’s the way you want to live, then you’re really not helping players. One of the influences on Saleh’s coaching outlook was Carroll from a philosophical standpoint.
Another experience in Seattle helped him. LB coach Ken Norton, Jr. took a two-week leave of absence after his father passed away. He would show up on gameday, but go back home during this time. It was up to Saleh to get the linebacker group ready for Sunday. This gave him new confidence that his ability within the defense could be expanded. He was with the Seahawks when they won Super Bowl XLVIII.
During Saleh’s time with the Seattle defense, their nickname was “the Legion of Boom.”
After three seasons, he moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars as their LB coach.
In 2017, he interviewed for the DC role with San Francisco and was hired by the newly-hired head coach, Kyle Shanahan, where he remained for four years. Shanahan and Saleh previously were assistant coaches for the Texans from 2006–09.
Saleh makes a name for himself
Defensive rankings under Saleh with the 49ers:
2017: #25
2018: #28
2019: #8
2020: #17
That 2019 defense really made Saleh a household name. That year, the defense was fourth in sacks, sixth in defensive turnovers, and first in passing defense. San Fran went to the Super Bowl but was beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs after going 13-3-0 during the regular season. The defense made national headlines almost each week.
In January of 2021, he was named the head coach of the Jets. He became the fourth head coach in the NFL whose heritage is Arab American and the first to be a Muslim. Expectations were high for New York with the signing of QB Aaron Rodgers, but things did not go as planned.
He speaks Arabic, as does his wife, Sanaa. He has occasionally worn a Lebanon flag patch sewn onto his sideline gear. The couple has seven children. Saleh is a chess master.
Saleh got a raw deal while with the Jets. He signed a five-year deal, then went 4-13-0 in his first season. He built the defense into a league power, but the New York offense just never jelled. The Jets went 7-10-0 in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and after a 2-3-0 start in 2024, he was fired. An NFL head coach will rarely get canned so early in the season.
New York Jets defensive rankings under Saleh:
- 2021: #32
- 2022: #4
- 2023: #3
- 2024: #3
One thing Saleh knows is defense. Under his tutelage, interceptions increase, sacks go way up, missed tackles decrease, forced fumbles become a thing, opponents’ passing yardage becomes diminished, and the run game is stopped up the middle.
Prediction: Cardinals will hire Saleh
Marissa Myers of The Wrightway Sports Network is predicting that the Cardinals will hire Saleh as their next head coach:
“One of the jobs that is still open is the Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching vacancy. With the Cardinals moving on from Jonathan Gannon, they will need to find a head coach who can come in and instantly change the culture. The candidate that makes the most sense for Arizona is Robert Saleh.”
A lot of the Cardinals fanbase had pointed to the next head coach needing to be an offensive-minded guy who can take this stagnant offensive group and jump-start it. The first act would need to be to cure the QB situation, whether that is Kyler Murray or Jacoby Brissett, or drafting a young buck to eventually take over after a year.
But defenses win championships. And Arizona has a great nucleus on that side of the ball without much tinkering necessary. They have foundational players in place already.
Myers continues:
“Saleh knows how to persevere through unforeseen circumstances. While dealing with a slew of injuries, Saleh has still guided the 49ers to have a top-ranked unit. Plus, he knows the NFC West well.”
With Saleh’s expert chess experience, this game has taught him to be very organized and very strategic. His game is to always place constant pressure on his opponent. His strategy was not trick people, but see farther than they do.
He has the endorsement of his current boss, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan:
“I don’t know what’s wrong with people if they don’t hire him. He’s as good as you can get, knows more about football, all three phases, and he’s going to hire the best staff; he knows about players, he knows what they’re talking about, who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. He also knows how to deal with people. I hope everyone’s not very smart and doesn’t hire him so I can keep him, but I’m expecting not to have him.”
The 49ers were on top of the defensive universe when Saleh was in control. When he left for the Jets, the Niners’ defense steadily ranked lower and lower. All the while, New York’s defensive rankings were in the Top-5 three of four seasons while he was at the helm.
Shanahan re-hired Saleh to run his defense and paid him handsomely, and guess what? Their defense has returned to league prominence. By chance? A coincidence?
The Cardinals’ coaching interview process is continuing. Saleh hopes Arizona has his number on speed dial and has players in-house he can challenge in chess.
