Watch Saleh ignore a hilarious request to climb the steps at Shanahan Stadium before the 49ers-Jets game Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
Burning Jets coach Robert Saleh does not inform 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan more, so the two are cheerful frenemies ahead. San Francisco and New York Game of the week 1.
Shanahan fueled the flame Saturday when he told reporters he hopes the Levi’s Stadium staff doesn’t allow Saleh, who loves to work out, any chance to run around the stands at his old hangout.
“Salah is very solid at what he does,” Shanahan told reporters. “He’s not going to think about the game too much. I’m not going to think about him too much. I just hope that the people in our stadium don’t let him go up the stairs and practice. Hopefully, that will make him a little nervous.”
“I just hope the people at our stadium don’t let him climb the stairs.”
Kyle Shanahan wants Robert Saleh to stay away from the Levi’s Stadium steps image.twitter.com/V1iQKCC4Gl
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 7, 2024
Curiously, Levi’s Stadium did not heed Shanahan’s request.
Saleh was seen running up and down the halls of the 49ers’ home on Monday, just hours before he and the Jets attempted to pull off a major upset on the road under the national spotlight of ESPN.
The 45-year-old New York coach seemed as comfortable as ever in his old Bay Area office and not as nervous as Shanahan expected.
Saleh, of course, served as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator from the 2017 to 2020 seasons. He was Shanahan’s right-hand man. before taking office in New York in 2021.
The two coaches have been close friends since they were members of the Houston Texans’ lower-level staffs in 2006.
Monday night’s matchup will mark the first time Shanahan and Saleh have faced each other on opposite sides as head coaches.
“There are a lot of players on the team that I’ve had a history with, friends as well, which adds a different element,” Shanahan said of the Jets. “It makes it more fun to talk to each other after or before a game.”
“But I don’t see any relevance once the game starts.”
Like any coach, Shanahan and Saleh want to win, but this game means much more.
The 49ers and the Jets are two Super Bowl Favorites eager to make a statement to begin their 2024 NFL seasons. And historically, as noted, there has been a lot of overlap between the two sublines.
We’ll know after the match if Saleh’s inclusion made any difference.