49ers’ Robert Saleh leads list of new coordinators for NFL contenders
Santa Clara, California (AP) – The 49ers of San Francisco returned to a familiar face when coach Kyle Shanahan sought to relaunch a defensive unit which had gone from dominant to mediocre in recent years.
The Niners brought Robert Saleh back for a second pass as a coordinator in the hope that he could again regain defense in the same way as what he did in 2019 when the Avare Defense of San Francisco helped transport the team to the Super Bowl.
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“His dominant presence in defensive meetings is what we needed,” said defensive star Nick Bosa.
The 49ers are not the only competitor who made a change in Play-Caller in attack or defense in 2025. How all these features will greatly contribute to determining which teams play deep in January.
Some teams were forced to modify the modifications they did not want with Detroit needing to replace the two coordinators after Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn obtained chief jobs and the Super Bowl champion, Philadelphia, needing to replace the offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after being a head coach.
Tampa Bay is in a similar boat for a second consecutive season after losing an attacking coordinator in front of a job as head coach with Liam Coen leaving for Jacksonville a year after Dave Canales left for Carolina.
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Other teams such as Houston, Cincinnati and Seattle have made changes in the hope of finding a spark.
Here is an overview of some of the new key coordinators of the NFL:
49ers DC Robert Saleh
The 49ers ranked 29th in the League to mark the defense last season, granting 25.6 points per match, and were tied for the seventh plus to remember with 17 because the unit was nothing like the most dominant under Saleh and Deco Ryans of 2019-222.
This led Shanahan to make another change to the coordinator, bringing Saleh after being dismissed as a chief coach of the New York Jets to replace the Nick Sorensen licensed.
In the past two complete seasons of Saleh with the jets in 2022-2010, New York ranked first via the prices authorized by match (178.9) and the yards per authorized game (4.7) and second in total defense (301.7 yards per match).
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The Niners hope that similar results will take them back into the playoffs after a 6-11 file in 2024.
Lions OC John Morton and DC Kelvin Sheppard
Detroit has become the third team in the past 15 seasons to lose the two coordinators in the face of NFL’s head coach jobs during the off-season with her who also arrives in Philadelphia after the 2022 and Cincinnati season after 2013.
The Lions have their goal above after going to the match for the NFC title in 2023 and losing in the division tour as a seeded last season. The question of knowing if this happens will strongly depend if Morton can keep the offensive in the top five in score for a fourth consecutive season after Johnson helped make it one of the most dynamic in the league with his games and his diets.
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Morton has only one year of gaming experience in the NFL in 2017 with the jets, ending in the last 10 score with an offense that did not have the players he has in Detroit.
Sheppard should be helped by making the Rusher Star Aidan Hutchinson Back Healthy after missing the last 12 games last season with a broken leg.
Eagles OC Kevin Patullo
Qb Jalen Hurts will have a fourth game player in as many years with Patullo promoted to the game coordinator after the departure of Moore.
The offense improved under Moore in 2024 after stagnating the previous season when Brian Johnson replaced Shane Steichen as a time.
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Patullo has a lot of talent with one of the best offensive lines, the record holder Record Saquon Barkley and two wide talented to AJ Brown and Devonta Smith to support Hurts.
Buccaneers Oc Josh Grizzard
Tampa Bay’s offensive improved again last season when Coen replaced Canales with the game in execution and screen showing a major improvement.
Grizzard will try to rely on this while going from the game coordinator to the OC. He was strongly involved in the third attack down last season when the BUCs led the NFL by converting 50.9%.
Texans OC Nick Campley
The coach Demeco Ryans made a change after last season, even if Houston returned to the division. This came despite the offensive taking a big step back thanks largely to the poor quality line that bothered the growth of QB CJ Stroud.
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Caley arrives after having passed the last two seasons to Sean Mcvay staff with the Rams and is counted on the successful wrinkles of Los Angeles in Houston to help facilitate the work of Stroud in the quarter. He will have to do it with a revised offensive line that lost the Pillar Laremy Tunsil during the offseason.
Bengals DC Al Golden
Bengals went to the ranks of the college to hire Golden far from Notre Dame to replace Lou Anarumo. Cincinnati has reached the Super Bowl with Anarumo leading the defense during the 2021 season, but has regressed in recent years and has been classified in the last 10 in most categories last season.
Golden passed the 2020-21 seasons as a second-hand coach for Bengals and brings a heavy program of man to the NFL.
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Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak
Seattle hired Kubiak to replace Ryan Grubb in the hope that his heavy scheme on the area blocking the area and the playing action can help the Seahawks offensive line.
Kubiak was OC in New Orleans last season when the saints started quickly before the injuries led to a fall.
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