Robert Saleh’s long-awaited offensive coordinator with the Jets has strong NFL family roots.
Mike LaFleur, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, is believed to be coming with Saleh from the San Francisco 49ers to New York, according to Brian Costello of The Post.
LaFleur, 33, has been in Kyle Shanahan’s team with the Niners for the past four seasons as the team’s passing game coordinator. He also coached for the first two years with the team before Wes Welker was hired to take on the role in 2019.
LaFleur, a former founding defender of Elmhurst College, Illinois, previously worked with Shanahan as an offensive intern in Cleveland (2014) and as an offensive assistant in Atlanta (2015-16) when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for those NFL teams.
Shanahan had joked in December that he had informed Saleh – then the Niners’ defensive coordinator – that he could not take any San Francisco assistants with him if he drew a head coach concert.
“I keep telling him he’s not allowed to take anyone,” Shanahan said. “Sometimes I can ease this a little bit, but I usually set the bar very low and then we’ll see what happens next.”
Matt LaFleur requested an interview with his younger brother for the opening of the Green Bay offensive coordinator in 2019, but Shanahan rejected the request. The NFL introduced a rule in 2020 that prevents teams from blocking offensive assistants from interviewing for coordinator positions.
Matt LaFleur has been the Packers’ head coach for two seasons, leading them to the NFC championship game last season and with a score of 13-3 this year. They are No. 1 in the overall NFC standings and will face the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday in the divisional round.