The New York Jets’ decision to fire coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday had raised plenty of eyebrows around the NFL.
The prevailing questions being asked by rival coaches and executives: What’s the true logic behind the decision, and what’s the Jets’ plan in both the short and long term?
Team owner Woody Johnson took sole responsibility for the decision to fire Saleh and said the move was necessary to spark a team that was underperforming with a 2-3 record. On the surface, there’s merit to that strategy, but others around the league were skeptical.
“Win on Monday (at home against the Buffalo Bills), and you are in first place in the AFC East,” said a high-ranking executive, who, like the other sources in this story, was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly. “(The firing) seems premature.”
The prime-time showdown with the Bills could have set the tone for the rest of the season. And it still could.
But now the Jets are dealing an with a distraction.
“This team is good enough to win the division,” another executive said. “But now you’re not even focused on Buffalo because the coach was just fired. It just doesn’t seem well-thought-out.”
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Ten executives and coaches from other teams were polled by The Athletic about the decision to fire Saleh. None of the 10 believed Saleh deserved to be fired so quickly, directing the brunt of the blame on Johnson for making a rash decision.
“Five games into his first (true) season with Aaron Rodgers seems a little premature to me,” a third executive said.
Before the regular season, The Athletic surveyed 21 coaches and executives to get a prediction for which teams would underperform in 2024. The Jets finished tied for third with five votes. The panelists cited an aging Rodgers coming off a torn Achilles, an offensive system that lacked creativity in 2023 and numerous in-house distractions over the past year as among the reasons for the vote.
Because of those factors, the 2-3 start wasn’t shocking. Neither was Saleh being on the hot seat. But one leading to the other at this early juncture felt impulsive.
“I was definitely a little surprised by the timing of it,” an assistant coach said. “It was probably inevitable, but it’s more of the Jets not being able to get out of their own way. I’m not sure what the firing now does, but I guess we’ll see.”
Again, Saleh had pressure to deliver improved results this season. That part was never really debatable. But the Jets lost to the reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in the opener and then the undefeated Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in London. A week earlier, the 10-9 loss at home to the Denver Broncos could be painted as the only true misstep in this season’s win-loss column. Their best win, coupled with Rodgers’ marquee performance, came in Week 3 against the New England Patriots, who appear to be in contention for the No. 1 draft pick.
“The pressure was on (Saleh),” another assistant coach said. “They looked like they are going to win the Super Bowl a few weeks ago, and then (Saleh was fired after) a couple bad games.”
Jets players and coaches in recent days have felt like the vibe was “off” — and there was a lot of frustration internally about a lack of accountability about the continued issues on offense, according to sources.
Players and coaches have had concerns about Nathaniel Hackett…
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) October 8, 2024
Dive deeper, and the defense laid an egg against the Niners. Rodgers also noted after that game that the Jets weren’t prepared to play championship football after such a humbling loss. The offense then looked out of sorts in a tight Week 2 victory against the Tennessee Titans. The Jets came out flat in the last two games against the Broncos and Vikings. It is reasonable to think a change in leadership could spark the Jets.
But again, was now the appropriate time to search for such a jolt? Bills quarterback Josh Allen has thrown five interceptions in back-to-back losses to the Jets at the Meadowlands. The Jets’ defense — led by defensive coordinator/interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich — has typically delivered throughout Saleh’s three-plus seasons on the job, but there will be a challenge now to answer the bell against the Bills with a new voice in charge.
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Another executive said he wasn’t sure what the firing really accomplishes, since the defense and offense stay the same. “Either something was happening behind the scenes, or (it was) just a move to make a move and hoping something changes,” he said.
If the Jets don’t rebound Monday against the Bills, the distractions could theoretically be compounded in a short week before road games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Patriots. While midseason coaching firings do sometimes generate that missing spark, they also invite the possibility of the situation spiraling further out of control.
“Now they’re all coaching for their lives,” an executive said. “And at some point, they’re going to be focusing on looking for their next jobs.”
And then there’s the elephant in the room.
Johnson said he spoke with Rodgers on Monday night, but Rodgers didn’t have any input on the decision to fire Saleh. However, people around the league questioned the state of the relationship between Saleh and Rodgers, as that player-coach dynamic was the subject of questions during recent news conferences. The organization has gone all in on maximizing its potential and to maximize Rodgers’ comfort in Florham Park during his abbreviated window, which included bringing in many of the quarterback’s allies.
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With any move like this, the long-term strategy must also be considered. Johnson will be hiring his eighth full-time head coach since taking ownership of the team in 2000. Joe Douglas, the fifth general manager over the same timeframe, must also be wondering about his fate, although he may find solace in the fact that he constructed the roster that Johnson just called the most talented of his tenure.
The next coach will be taking over a promising roster with talent on both sides of the ball, including a huge draw in Rodgers, even though he turns 41 in December. But that coach will also be joining an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs, as of now, since the 2010 postseason. It has fewer playoff victories (six) than head coaches during Johnson’s stewardship.
“I don’t know how it gets better,” an executive said.
“The product they put on the field does NOT look like a team that has given up or one that is tuning out its head coach.”
In the newest episode of The Athletic Football Show, @robertmays reflects on the surprising firing of Robert Saleh and the implications for the Jets.
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) October 9, 2024
By becoming the first team to fire its head coach during the 2024 season, the Jets are hoping such a dramatic and unpopular task had been a necessary step toward immediate improvement.
But if it doesn’t work, the Jets will again be left with more questions than answers.
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