George Kittle Says 'Violence is Coming' with Robert Saleh Back as 49ers DC

George Kittle is an offensive weapon for the San Francisco 49ers, but he issued a warning to the rest of the NFL about their defense in 2025 with Robert Saleh back as defensive coordinator.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show (starts at 4:15 mark), Kittle declared "violence is coming" from the 49ers defense under Saleh.

Since DeMeco Ryans left to become head coach of the Houston Texans after the 2022 season, the Niners have been trying to find some stability at defensive coordinator.

Steve Wilks (2023) and Nick Sorensen (2024) were both fired after one season. The 2024 campaign saw the 49ers finish 29th in points allowed, their worst ranking in that category since 2016.

Saleh, who was fired as head coach of the New York Jets in October after a 2-3 start, was hired by San Francisco in January. The 46-year-old previously worked as defensive coordinator on Kyle Shanahan's staff from 2017 to '20.

There are few coaches in the NFL right now who have a better reputation for coaching up defense than Saleh. The Jets went from last in points allowed in his first season to fourth in 2022 and 12th in 2023.

Last season, the Jets were a top-five defense in points, yards, sacks, quarterback pressure rate, completion percentage and passer rating in Saleh's five games. They dropped to 13th or worse in five of those six categories in 12 games after his firing.

The 49ers also invested a lot of draft capital into the defense for Saleh to work with and help develop. Each of their first five 2025 picks were defensive players, led by Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams at No. 11 overall.

When the 49ers were in their stretch of four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowl appearances in five years from 2019 to '23, they were one of the most physical teams on both sides of the ball.

That lack of physicality on defense was a big reason the 49ers fell off with a 6-11 record last season. Their offense still has plenty of pieces to be great, including Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, Trent Williams and Jauan Jennings, as long as they have better injury luck in 2025.

San Francisco's ceiling for the upcoming season will be determined by how well Saleh can get the young players on defense up to speed.

Based on Kittle's assessment, it doesn't sound like it will take Saleh that long to get them there.