Why Firing Robert Saleh Was The Right Move For The Jets
The most shocking news about the New York Jets occurred earlier this week. The Jets announced that Robert Saleh has been fired as the team's head coach. Now, this is going to be more of a first-person opinion piece as the New York Jets are my number one football team, and I have a lot to say about this move.
I'm shocked the organization is making this move now. I expected the Jets to give Saleh the season. After all this organization allowed Todd Bowles and Adam Headgase to finish the season. Heck, even Rich Kotite got to finish the season as the head coach. This is the first time a head coach has been fired mid-season in the Johnson Ownership Era of Jets.
A big reason why Woody never hired him to begin with, his brother Christopher did. Remember Woody was serving as the Ambassador to Great Britain. Speaking of which, Woody had to have been embarrassed after that Vikings game in London. He has a lot of friends in that country in high-ranking roles in government and business. That had a hand in him firing Saleh.
While it was stunning hearing the news, I have two words to describe it: "Good Riddance". This dude should have been fired last season after the team quit on him in the middle of the season. Saleh was completely incompetent as the head coach, and he has not changed his tactics for 3 years. He's a good defensive mind, but he's too nice to be a head coach. Saleh failed to prepare his team well for too many games and often made bone-headed in-game coaching decisions. It was time for a change and it's better late than never as the writing was clearly on the wall.
The interim head coach for the rest of the season will be Jeff Ulbrich. That is the right decision for them to make as he has been a potential hiring candidate for previous head coaching roles. This is a tremendous opportunity for Ulbrich, and he has his work cut out for him. Firing Saleh is Step 1, Step 2 is to fix the offensive issues.
When looking at the offense and the news of Saleh's firing there is one question everyone is asking. Why is Nathaniel Hackett still here as the offensive coordinator? Oh right, he's buddies with Aaron Rodgers. Hackett is horrendous as an offensive coordinator and he's worse than his father was at coaching this team. Yes, the Jets have now demoted Hackett from play-calling duties, but it makes zero sense as to why he has a job, except because Rodgers wants him there.
On a side note to Jets fans, be cautiously optimistic with Todd Downing getting control of the play calls. He isn't an upgrade at all as he was terrible as the offensive coordinator with the Titans from 2021 and 2022.
Regarding Davante Adams, they pretty much have to acquire him via trade. The organization is going all in on this season and Joe Douglas will be a goner if the team doesn't make the playoffs. The Jets need to fix the running game badly and retool the O-line once Moses gets back from injury.
Hopefully, good things come with this team as a Jets fan I want to win. One thing is for sure they are going all in on this season and this move showed that there serious. Hopefully, this wakes up everyone on offense and defense, and the coaching staff is still there as they fight for their jobs. Just win football games and do it now.
As for Robert Saleh, I wish him the best. It's clear he's a likable person and nobody has a bad word to say about the man himself. His NFL career is not over as he is absolutely going to be a defensive coordinator on a team next season. If I were to guess I think he goes back to San Francisco as Nick Sorensen is terrible and he is closely connected to Shanahan. This won't be the last time Saleh will appear in the NFL, that is for sure.
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