NFL: New York Jets hiring first Muslim coach

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh of the San Francisco 49ers looks on during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on December 26, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona [Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

The New York Jets have announced they reached an agreement in principle to hire Lebanese-American Robert Saleh, setting him on the path to become the first Muslim head coach in American football history, Anadolu Agency reports.

The team announced the yet-to-be-finalized agreement in a statement on Thursday.

Saleh had been the San Francisco 49ers defense coordinator for the past four seasons, overhauling the team’s once unimpressive defense and turning it into a formidable behemoth.

“Congrats to Coach Saleh and his family. @nyjets you got a great coach and an even better person,” 49ers kicker Robbie Gould said on Twitter.

Saleh was born in Dearborn, Michigan, a major hub of Arab-American life. He is of Lebanese descent.

READ: Qatar secured 2022 FIFA World Cup through bribery, conclude US prosecutors

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.