It was reported on Monday that the Cleveland Browns had requested to interview San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for their vacant head coaching job. Cleveland fired head coach Freddie Kitchens on Sunday following the team's Week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via a conference call on Monday and confirmed the interview request by the Browns.
San Francisco earned home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, which means a first-round bye. That will allow Saleh to speak with Browns decision-makers during some time off later this week.
"It's actually a perfect situation for Saleh, just like it was for me (when interviewing for the 49ers job in 2017), just because I was fortunate to have the bye week, also," Shanahan said. "We're going to get a couple of days off at the end of this week, and that's the only thing that stinks for Saleh because he won't get those days off because he'll be preparing for an interview on one day and then probably doing the interview the next day."
Shanahan informed reporters that the Browns are the only team so far to request an interview with Saleh.
The head coach also said the interview would take place locally in the Bay Area, which means Browns officials will travel to meet with the defensive coordinator and not the other way around.
Kyle Shanahan confirms via a conference call that the Browns will interview #49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for the head coaching job. The interview will take place in the Bay Area, not in Cleveland.
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) December 30, 2019
