Another San Francisco 49ers coaching search is underway for a defensive coordinator after Robert Saleh left to become the Tennessee Titans coach. It’s a familiar situation for coach Kyle Shanahan, who already might ahve a top choice to become the 49ers defensive coordinator in 2026.
According to Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, assistant head coach Gus Bradley is the ‘top choice’ to become San Francisco’s defensive play-caller next season.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2026
“Gus Bradley is the top choice to replace Saleh as DC — that’s essentially what he was brought in for this season.”
Tim Kawakami on who will be the next San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator
Bradley, who turns 60 in July, joined the Green Bay coaching staff this past season. San Francisco recognized that Saleh, who received head coaching interviews soon after being fired by the New York Jets, would likely get a second chance to run his own team in 2026. In preparation for that, Shanahan hired Bradley.
Multiple 49ers reporters have identified the long-time coach as the likeliest candidate to replace Saleh. However, San Francisco will still go through the process of a coaching search and bring in outside options for interviews. With that said, the club went through this same exercise last offseason to find an offensive coordinator before officially promoting Klay Kubiak to the position.
Once credited for his success as the defensive play-caller for the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks, Bradley has since had stints as coordinator of the defense for the Los Angeles Chargers (2017-20), Las Vegas Raiders (2021) and the Indianapolis Colts (2022-24).
From 2017-20, the Chargers defense ranked 12th in EPA per play (-0.006) and 15th in success rate (43.8 percent). Las Vegas ranked 25th (0.061 EPA per play) and 16th (44.5 percent) in those same categories in 2021, and the Colts defense ranked 16th (-0.009) and 21st (44.2 percent), respectively, with Bradley as play-caller.
Bradley has been steadfast in his commitment to using a 4-3 with many of the same looks in Cover 3 and Cover 2 coverages that have become well-known across the league throughout his career. While it is possible that he has picked some things up from Shanahan in San Francisco, the predictability of the Bradley defense could prove to be an issue this season if he is hired as the 49ers defensive coordinator.
