Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers are sitting at 9-4 with four weeks left in what has been quite the season this year. They’ve dealt with injuries, another wide receiver saga, and still have managed to be in the playoff picture despite playing a number of first and second-year players this season.
The team’s coaching staff has done a great job. Head coach Kyle Shanahan should be in the running for Coach of the Year (although it’s unlikely he’ll win it over Mike Vrabel this year). Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has found a way to pull the strings for a 49ers defense that has lost its two best players. And special teams coordinator Brant Boyer is starting to come along, with San Francisco improving in a couple of areas.
That’s a difference from the past few seasons, as the 49ers have seen some coaching turnover due to issues on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams. San Francisco had been through a pair of defensive coordinators in the past two years, firing both Steve Wilks and Nick Sorensen after one season.
In both years, it felt like Kyle Shanahan’s expectations weren’t met, adding more to his plate as he was more involved with the defense.
This season, however, Shanahan is back with a familiar face at defensive coordinator with Saleh, who has done a stellar job keeping the unit as a top-10 scoring defense, despite not really being elite in any category. That has alleviated some of the pressure off Shanahan’s back.
“It’s huge [to have a guy that you trust so implicitly at defensive coordinator],” Shanahan said about Saleh. “I mean, just going through this offseason with him, having to make a bunch of decisions on where we were going, where we were at and trying to make the best of a number of things going into the draft like that.”
“Knowing how this year was going to be different and knowing we were going to have to tinker with things throughout the year, just having a guy that I know has done it before and also someone I’ve done it together to where I know that he’s extremely capable of doing it and he’s done it at such a high level, done it a number of places and that’s exactly what he has done here.”
Shanahan is still involved with the defense, joining meetings and being an observer, but Saleh’s presence has allowed him not to be too hands-on with that side of the ball.
“You’ve always got to meet with them,” Shanahan said about the defense. “You can’t ever get too far away, whatever side of the ball you’re on or major in as a head coach. But also too, when I watch people try to fix things too much, when you’re giving it, whether it’s 50 percent of your attention or 80 percent of your attention, you’ve got to be very careful if you’re not giving something 100 percent of your attention that you’re not...
