NFL Analysis
10/8/24
8 min read
Why New York Jets Made Right Move Firing Robert Saleh
The New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday.
Jets owner Woody Johnson released a statement following the news that Salah had been fired, naming Jeff Ulbrich as the team's interim head coach.
The Jets are just 2-3 but still in the hunt for a playoff spot in the AFC. The playoff prediction model from The Athletic still gives the Jets a 46 percent chance at making the postseason.
However, with Super Bowl aspirations and a team built to compete right now, Saleh wasn't able to live up to expectations. Now, the Jets will have a new coach running the show for the next 13 weeks and potentially longer if they get into the playoffs.
Midseason firings aren't what any team wants, but sometimes it's better to cut ties before it's too late to turn around the season. For the Jets, it's the right decision if the team wants to figure out a way to get into the playoffs.
Here's what went wrong for Saleh during his time in New York.
Disaster From Start to Finish
An ascending defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Saleh took the head coaching job for the Jets in 2021. Expectations were high, and the Jets were hoping to usher in a new era for the franchise.
Instead, it's been the same old Jets.
Saleh failed to reach the playoffs a single time in New York, posting a 20-36 record before being fired on Tuesday. His best record as a head coach was in back-to-back seasons, going 7-10 in 2022 and 2023.
The Jets paired Saleh with No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson in his first year as head coach, but the relationship turned out to be a disaster. Wilson went just 3-10 as a starter in his rookie season, and in three years with the franchise, he threw more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23).
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to turn things around for Saleh and the team when they traded for him in 2023. But his first season ended just four plays into Week 1 when he suffered a torn Achilles. The Jets still managed to scrape out seven wins despite losing their future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Following the tumultuous 2023 season, Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini with The Athletic released an article outlining the toxic culture inside the Jets building under Saleh's leadership.
The article outlined Rodgers taking part in personnel decisions, describing Joe Douglas as the "assistant GM" to the star quarterback. It also outlined Saleh's complaints about how the team was portrayed by the national media and how he reacted when Rodgers called out potential leaks in the building during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
That sent Saleh into a tailspin. The coach held a meeting with his staff two days later where he asked the leaker to reveal himself, according to multiple people in attendance. “If you come forward now, you won’t get in trouble,” he told them while threatening to take their cell phones. Staffers were bemused by Saleh’s obsession with the Wilson story and his reaction to it.
- The Athletic
As the offseason rolled on, Saleh and Rodgers also clashed briefly over an "unexcused absence" at mandatory minicamp. Although Saleh later stated that the two were "on the same page," Rodgers was still subject to the team's fines for not attending the offseason practices.
The off-field distractions didn't go away as training camp got underway. The Jets spent the entire training camp and preseason waiting for Haason Reddick to report to the facility, but the star pass rusher the Jets traded for never showed up. He continues to hold out as he waits for a long-term extension without playing a single snap for the Jets.
Things continued to feel strange as the season kicked off, even when the Jets were winning games. A Thursday Night Football victory against the New England Patriots was overshadowed by a viral moment between Rodgers and Saleh after a touchdown.
Rodgers and Saleh are pumped.#TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/b3aSB0VgsM
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) September 20, 2024
A disappointing loss to the Vikings in London was Saleh's final nail in the coffin. According to Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz, Saleh came into the building on Tuesday assuming it was business as usual before being fired, and multiple defensive players viewed this as a shocking decision.
Now, the former Jets head coach is likely to look for another role, presumably as an assistant coach or coordinator on a defensive staff for the 2025 season.
Out of Fuel
Record aside, things have been disappointing for the Jets on both sides of the ball.
The Jets' defense, considered one of the league's most talented, hasn't lived up to expectations through five games despite playing against dismal offenses. The Jets rank just 12th in overall defensive DVOA and 24th against the run. Pro Football Focus has them graded as the 16th overall and 30th against the run.
Some of New York's best defensive players haven't lived up to their full potential, most notably Sauce Gardner. The two-time All-Pro is allowing a 117.6 passer rating when targeted this season and has committed three penalties. In his previous two seasons, his passer rating allowed was just 76.5 and 53.5 in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Fellow All-Pro Quinnen Williams hasn't had the same kind of impact, either. He has just one sack through five games, and with just 11 pressures, he's on pace for the fewest pressures in a season since 2021.
Things look even worse for the Jets offensively, coming in at 23rd in offensive DVOA. They're only scoring 18.6 points per game, which is the 25th most in the league.
Aaron Rodgers is on pace for the worst season statistically of his career. With four interceptions, he's pacing to break his career-high of 13 interceptions from 2008. His passer rating of 81.6 would also be the lowest mark of his career as a full-time starter, as would his 6.0 yards per attempt.
Some of that is due to the lack of weapons outside of Garrett Wilson. Allen Lazard has been the Jets' second-most targeted player because of his established connection with Rodgers during their time together in Green Bay. However, Lazard has caught just 20 of his 34 targets and leads the NFL with six drops after having the worst drop rate in the league last season.
Lazard was a healthy scratch multiple times last season, but as one of Rodgers' most trusted receivers, he continues to get opportunities while the future Hall of Fame quarterback is under center.
The Jets are also struggling far too much on the ground. Despite having two talented running backs in Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, the Jets are last with 80.4 rushing yards per game and 30th in yards per carry (3.6).
The offensive line isn't doing the running backs any favors. Per TruMedia, the Jets rank last with 0.44 yards generated before contact per carry. Only three other teams generate fewer than 1.0 yards before contact per rushing attempt.
That's directly leading to Rodgers's inability to make plays using play-action. Per PFF, he has a passer rating of just 64.1 on play-action passes this year, which is the worst mark of his career.
Nothing is going well on either side of the ball, and it's resulting in some disappointing performances from the Jets. Some of that might be personnel, but owner Woody Johnson seems to think that Saleh is to blame, which is why he's the first coach fired in the middle of the season under the current Jets owner's tenure.
Failing to live up to expectations ultimately falls on the head coach. Saleh's failure to produce a single playoff-caliber team has the Jets understandably parting ways with their head coach. Saleh was probably given an extra few games this year when he could have been fired after last season had Rodgers not gotten injured.
Now, it'll be up to Ulbrich to find a way to help the Jets advance to the postseason.
Is There Any Hope For New York?
The history of interim coaches isn't pretty, but the Jets made the right call.
A 2-3 start isn't good enough for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and neither side of the ball has lived up to preseason expectations. The lack of a spark on defense is particularly concerning for a head coach with Saleh's defensive background.
Interim coaches typically ride out disappointing seasons, but some have helped lead teams into the playoffs. Rich Bisaccia is the most recent example during his time with the Las Vegas Raiders after taking over for Jon Gruden. Despite a tumultuous season that included the Henry Ruggs arrest and Gruden's leaked emails, Bisaccia helped the Raiders end the year on a four-game winning streak to go 10-7 and reach the playoffs.
The Jets are hoping for a similar turnaround with Ulbrich at the helm. A former NFL linebacker, Ulbrich quickly climbed up the coaching ranks during stints with the Jets and Atlanta Falcons.
“[Ulbrich] is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team,” Woody Johnson said in his statement. “I believe he, along with the coaches on this staff, can get the most out of our talented team and attain the goal we established this offseason.”
This might be the opportunity that helps Ulbrich's coaching career take off and potentially help him become the Jets' head coach in 2025 and beyond.
The 33rd Team's Mike Tannenbaum, a former general manager for the Jets and executive with the Miami Dolphins, believes that Ulbrich has a very similar opportunity to one that Dan Campbell had as an interim HC with the Dolphins back in 2015.
"Sometimes being an interim head coach can be an unexpected opportunity for a coaching career," Tannenbaum said. "If I'm Jeff Ulbrich, I don't look at this as a band-aid. I look at this as a great opportunity for myself."
A team with so many things going wrong needed some kind of spark, and a new head coach could be exactly what the Jets need to turn things around.
