The DC for the San Francisco 49ers, Robert Saleh, is on the Cardinals\u2019 list. Come to think about it, Saleh is on a bunch of teams\u2019 prospect interview lists. He is a hot commodity this year. After being fired from the New York Jets and back with the Niners, he picked up right where he left off and rebuilt San Fran\u2019s defense back to respectability.<\/p>\n
And everyone has taken note. There are numerous media articles stating that Saleh could become the Cardinals\u2019 next head coach. He is not the odds-on favorite<\/a> – that belongs to Denver Broncos DC Vance Joseph – but he is high on the inventory of names tabulated.<\/p>\n But who is Saleh? Where did he come from? What are his qualifications?<\/p>\n Robert Jalal Saleh, age 46, was raised in Dearborn, Michigan. His heritage is from Lebanon. His grandparents on his father\u2019s side were refugees who were forced out of Lebanon after civil war broke out in the late 1940s. His father, Sam, was born in Michigan. Saleh\u2019s mother, Fatin, was born in Lebanon and then emigrated to America.<\/p>\n Sam Saleh played football at Eastern Michigan along the defensive line. Upon graduation, Sam went undrafted and had a tryout with the Chicago Bears but was not offered a training camp contract. Eastern Michigan offered him a coaching job, but he instead went back home to Dearborn to join the family real estate business.<\/p>\n TE Robert Saleh Northern Michigan (Credit: Bruce Dial, Getty Images)<\/p>\n Robert Saleh played tight end at Northern Michigan. Upon graduation, he entered the business world as a loan officer at Comerica Bank using his degree in finance. He was making money and was content for a 22-year old, but was not happy.<\/p>\n Robert\u2019s brother, David, was in one of the World Trade Center buildings on 9-11 in the second tower. Somehow, he made it out alive. It was this incident that Robert decided to follow his dream, ditch finance and the downtown corporate universe, and pursue a coaching career.<\/p>\n He knew he needed to be back on the football field.<\/p>\n Michigan State hired him as a graduate assistant in 2002. At the same time, Robert worked on his master\u2019s degree in kinesiology. After two years, he got a job as the assistant DL coach at Central Michigan, followed by a year as the assistant LB coach at Georgia, where he made $900 a month.<\/p>\n In 2006, Gary Kubiak was named the new head coach of the Houston Texans. Robert interviewed and was hired as the defensive quality-control coach. In 2010, Kubiak fired the entire defensive coaching staff. For the first time, Saleh was unemployed, and his wife had just given birth to their first son three months prior.<\/p>\n He traveled to the Senior Bowl, an unofficial NFL convention, where many assistant coaches are interviewed for open positions. Yet, Saleh did not get a single interview at age 31.<\/p>\n Then Saleh found out that the Seahawks had an opening for a quality control coach. Since Seattle wasn\u2019t in the playoffs, all of the coaches were on vacation. For two weeks. This was a problem for an aggressive coach looking to interview. In the end, he scheduled a meeting with head coach Pete Carroll and was hired under DC Gus Bradley, who would take an interest in Saleh.<\/p>\n It was in Seattle that he learned to become a good football coach. Saleh learned that if he tried to be someone else, if he wanted to steal from someone else, and that\u2019s the way you want to live, then you\u2019re really not helping players. One of the influences on Saleh\u2019s coaching outlook was Carroll from a philosophical standpoint.<\/p>\n![\"TE](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Robert-Saleh-Northern-Michigan.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/imagn-19711622.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/imagn-24359676.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n