Robert Saleh, the Titans head coach and former 49ers defensive coordinator, shared something 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t seem to appreciate.
Saleh was speaking Wednesday about the Titans’ upcoming matchup against the Giants.
He was asked about Giants running back Cam Skattebo. After speaking about how much he liked Skattebo, Saleh, who was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator under Shanahan from 2017 to 2020 and again in 2025, said, “I know coming into the draft, we were actually about to draft him in San Francisco. Kyle [Shanahan] loved him. And he ended up getting taken right before we were picking.”
The 49ers head coach was interviewed on KNBR’s “The Sports Leader” show on Thursday and was asked about whether he minded Saleh saying what he was thinking with a draft decision.
“Yes, I do,” Shanahan said with a laugh.
He then added, “I mean, [what Saleh said] didn’t bother me that much. But, that’s kind of the hard thing, when it’s not just X’s and O’s. It’s when people go in other buildings that have been in your building for so long, that kind of, you know, they go over the philosophies, how you look at the team, the personnel, things like that. So it’s more than just the X’s and O’s.”
It sounds like Shanahan is more irked about how his former coaches can take his insights — which he’d prefer to stay in San Francisco — to other franchises once they’re hired elsewhere.
But that’s an inevitable part of success as a coach.
While Skattebo coming to San Francisco didn’t work out, it’s fascinating to imagine a backfield of him and Christian McCaffrey.
