Robert Saleh’s long-awaited offensive coordinator with the Jets has strong roots in the NFL family.
Mike LaFleur, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, is believed to be coming with Saleh from the San Francisco 49ers to New York, according to Brian Costello of the Post.
33-year-old LaFleur is on Kyle Shanahan’s team with the Niners for the past four seasons as coordinator of the team’s passing game. He also served as a wide receivers coach for the first two years with the team before Wes Welker was hired to fill that role in 2019.
LaFleur, a former defender at Elmhurst College (Illinois), previously worked with Shanahan as an offensive intern in Cleveland (2014) and as an offensive assistant in Atlanta (2015-16), when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of these NFL teams.
Shanahan had joked in December that he informed Saleh – then defensive coordinator of the Niners – that he would not be able to take any San Francisco assistant with him if he got a position as head coach.
“I always tell him that he is not allowed to take anyone,” said Shanahan. “Sometimes I can lower that a little bit, but I usually set the bar very low and then we’ll see what happens next.
Matt LaFleur asked to interview his younger brother for the opening of the Green Bay offensive coordinator in 2019, but Shanahan denied the request. The NFL instituted a rule in 2020 preventing teams from blocking offensive assistants from interviewing for coordinator positions.
Matt LaFleur was the Packers’ head coach for two seasons, taking them to the NFC Championship Game last season and a 13-3 mark this year. They are the No. 1 seed overall in the NFC and will face the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday in the divisional round.