Robert Saleh’s long-awaited offensive coordinator with the Jets has strong NFL family roots.
Mike LaFleur, the younger brother of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, is believed to be coming with Saleh from the San Francisco 49ers in New York, according to Brian Costello of The Post.
LaFleur, 33, has been on Kyle Shanahan’s staff with the Niners for the past four seasons as the team’s passing game coordinator. He also coached wide receivers during his first two years with the team before Wes Welker was hired to take on that role in 2019.
LaFleur, a former quarterback at 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 these NFL teams. .
Shanahan had joked in December by informing Saleh, then Niners defensive coordinator, that he could not bring any San Francisco assistants if he got a coaching concert.
“I keep telling him he doesn’t have permission to catch anyone,” Shanahan said. “Sometimes I can relax a little bit, but I usually put the bar very low and then we’ll see what happens next.”
Matt LaFleur asked to interview his younger brother for the opening of the Green Bay offensive coordinator in 2019, but Shanahan turned down the request. The NFL instituted a rule in 2020 that prevented teams from blocking offensive attendees 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 to a 13-3 record this year. They are No. 1 in the overall NFC standings and will face the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday in the divisional round.