Detroit Lions announced Thursday night that it had completed the interview with 49ers’ head coach and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Vegas’ current favorite to win the Detroit job, Saleh reportedly had a virtual interview with Lions on Thursday, making him the fourth known candidate to have completed an interview with the team. To date, Lions have also interviewed former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, current Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell.
Saleh became a popular candidate in Detroit, because of serious endorsements from his current players and also from his local ties. This year, in San Francisco, Saleh dealt with many injuries on his team, including passages by the IR with Dee Ford (15 games lost), Ezekiel Ansah (12 games lost), Nick Bosa (14 games lost), Solomon Thomas (14 games lost) and Richard Sherman (11 games lost) among many others.
Despite all these injuries, the 49ers finished sixth in defensive DVOA, fourth in yards allowed per drive, eighth in points per allowed drive and third in the percentage of three and three. This happened a year after producing a defense that ranked in the top 10 in almost all major statistical categories (DVOA, allowed yards, points), which led the 49 players to compete in the Super Bowl.
Last month, we spoke with Matt Maiocco of the NBC Sports Bay Area about what makes Saleh such a solid candidate for the Lions job.
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