Jets coach Saleh explains what makes ex-boss Shanahan special

Jets coach Saleh explains what makes ex-boss Shanahan special originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Robert Saleh has admired friend and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan for a long time.

The New York Jets coach met Shanahan when the two were early career staffers with the Houston Texans in 2006. Since then, Saleh has grown close with Shanahan and served as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator from 2017 through 2020.

Saleh discussed what makes Shanahan a special play-caller and person with reporters Tuesday, just days before the 49ers’ and Jets’ Week 1 matchup on “Monday Night Football.”

“He’s been calling plays for 20 years it feels like,” Saleh said of Shanahan. “But he’s unique in the sense that he can see it as it goes. He’s got his game plan, and then, he’s got his game that happens after the first quarter. He’ll create plays on the sideline if he has to.

“He is very, very good at recognizing how players move and how players relate to the space that’s created on defense by certain plays. He knows how and exactly when to counterpunch. He sees things on tape that give him opportunities to exploit. He’s one of the best.”

Shanahan has run a well-oiled machine in San Francisco for most of his eight-year head coaching career — all with the 49ers. And as the team’s former defensive coordinator, Saleh has seen Shanahan’s electric offenses up close.

Both coaches are eager to begin the 2024 season against each other at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. However, Saleh made it clear that Shanahan is his friend for life — on and off the field — regardless of Monday’s outcome.

“I was quality control for the Houston Texans, and he was coming in as a freshly minted wide receivers coach,” Saleh added. “He’s still skinny now as he was back then. But it was the first time I had ever met him, he’s a great human.”

Saleh has gotten to know Shanahan behind closed doors for roughly 20 years now.

The Jets coach loathes, in particular, when naysayers criticize Shanahan for being the “coach’s kid,” as the son of legendary NFL coach Mike Shanahan.

“In life … it’s who you know, not what you know,” Saleh said. “I would argue with anyone who questions whether or not Kyle Shanahan is where he is because of his dad. And his dad is a phenomenal human and had all those accolades.

“But he’s one of those football kids — ‘coach’s kid’ — who actually deserves to be where his because of how unique he is to the sport. He sees the game differently. He’s well-versed in all three phases, and you could tell that from the first day I met him.”

Shanahan has a 64-51 record with San Francisco and has made three Super Bowls since the 2017 NFL season — Saleh knows the 49ers coach’s résumé speaks for itself.

The pair obviously will be enemies on Monday, but Saleh and Shanahan’s friendship extends beyond the gridiron.

And the two surely will exchange pleasantries and dice up what is primed to be an electric game.

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