Fred Warner is excited about Robert Saleh returning to the San Francisco 49ers as defensive coordinator. During the coach's first stint with the team, the star linebacker credits Saleh as one of the earliest and strongest believers in his potential heading into the 2018 NFL Draft. Many teams were unsure where Warner fit within an NFL defense at the time due to his size and a perceived lack of physicality.
"It took a team like the 49ers, Coach Saleh, bringing me in," Warner said during an appearance on The Ross Tucker Football Podcast, which appears to have taken place ahead of Super Bowl LIX. "He broke the tape down, is like, 'These certain things that you're doing in your scheme, whether you believe it or not, translate perfectly to what we do in our scheme.'
Warner recalled his whirlwind rookie season, trying to adjust to the NFL and prove himself. He also praised the then-linebackers coach DeMeco Ryans, now head coach of the Houston Texans, for helping shape his early development.
"Without these guys helping mold me, I don't know where I'd be right now," Warner said. "It was a perfect situation, perfect fit to help me develop and grow into the player that I am today."
For Warner, Saleh's return after the coach's stint as the New York Jets head coach feels like a full-circle moment.
"Nobody else had the vision for what I could be aside from him," Warner admitted. "He was the first and only guy to be like, 'I know that you are going to do well in our system. I have all these backers ranked [and] you're right there at the top with these guys.' And nobody else had said that.
"And so, for whatever reason, he saw something in me, and I tried my best to try to show him, hey, you did good on your selection."
Since then, Warner has been named to four Pro Bowls and has earned All-Pro honors four times, firmly establishing himself as one of the league's elite defenders.