5 candidates to replace Matt Patricia as Lions head coach

Saleh is about as subtle as a punch in the face, but his style of cranking the intensity switch up to 11 and playing an aggressive, manic style of defense helped the 49ers come one Patrick Mahomes supernova performance away from winning the Super Bowl. Saleh has certainly paid his dues as an assistant on good teams, as he worked under Pete Carroll in Seattle before Kyle Shanahan named him defensive coordinator of one of the NFL’s deepest and most talented units. Saleh interviewed for a few openings last year, but nothing materialized. If San Francisco keeps winning thanks to this defense, Saleh might finally get his chance in Detroit.

Patricia also claims to be a defensive mastermind, but he had the attitude of an ivory tower professor with a brilliant schematic brain. Saleh, on the other hand, is not only a superior defensive mind given how he’s kept San Francisco dominant despite injuries on the defensive line and in the secondary, but he plays with the same amount of emotion as the players do, and that be a welcome sign for a Lions team that looks like they are asleep for half of the game. Saleh’s combustible nature might cause trouble, but there are few defensive coordinators in the league who are better.