Why didn’t the 49ers think of this for Jim Harbaugh?
One of the greatest things that we couldn’t get enough of during the Harbaugh era of the San Francisco 49ers was his antics on the sideline. I encourage everyone new here to YouTube Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines and then order a pizza. I demanded he is super-imposed during the game in the corner because his reactions are that entertaining. Well, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is my new wish that will never happen. As a casual observer of the game, those few seconds of Saleh fired up after the defense pulls off a big play makes me want to go run through a wall for the guy.
Well lately, you might have seen another guy next to him holding him back, and that’s 49ers assistant strength and conditioning coach Mike Nicolini. I caught him sticking his arm out as a precautionary measure one game and just realized on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers that was his hand holding the back of Saleh’s shirt while Saleh went ape-[site decorum].
The folks at Good Morning Football made Nicolini the man of the hour and were the first to point out how he’s always there to restrain Saleh as if that is a designated responsibility from the 49ers. This is a delicate and important job; if Saleh jumps around too much or runs out onto the field, the 49ers could get penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and he’s known to tackle his own guys out of excitement.
He is their silent guardian. Their watchful protector. @KyleBrandt hypes the @49ers secret weapon nobody’s talking about. pic.twitter.com/Yo1AAYuErn
— GMFB (@gmfb) November 26, 2019
Saleh has really come into his own as a defensive coordinator. I do kind of answer “yeah, but” due to the fact his entire defensive line is almost consisting of first rounders, but Eric Mangini had a somewhat still-decent defense when he inherited the D from Vic Fangio in 2015 and the less said of that team, the better.
If Good Morning Football will dedicate a segment to Nicolini, you know I for sure am going to dedicate a post to Robert Saleh’s restrainer. On that note. Can we PLEASE get the Super-impost Robert Saleh in the corner from now on?