On October 8th the head coach of the New York Jets Robert Saleh has been officially fired. The Jets have started out subpar this season with a 2-3 record through week five. Offense continues to be a struggle for the New York Jets. Now the interim head coach will be the defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
I think the first question to ask is was this the right move? In my opinion I don’t think so. Saleh has been a solid head coach and it seems the players like him too. I wouldn't be surprised if Saleh had a new job by next season, probably as a defensive coordinator. It might not be the biggest surprise that the offense has had its struggles since Saleh is defensive minded coach. Saleh was a very successful defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers before becoming head coach of the Jets. The offensive struggles could also be pointed at the offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. I also believe week 5 is just way too early to fire a head coach, most teams are still unsure of what their identity will be for the rest of the year. The Jets could still make a playoff push, their season is definitely not over, which makes this move more and more confusing. Saleh’s time with the Jets wasn't the most impressive with an overall record of 20-36, but with that being said this was the most talented roster Saleh had with Rodgers being healthy. It was reported Saleh was pretty shocked by the news and the owner even had Saleh escorted by security not giving the former head coach a chance to break the news to his players.
"This is probably the best team I've had in 25 years," Johnson said on a conference call with reporters. "I just felt that the best way to go forward was a new direction. Taking Jeff Ulbrich and making him the interim head coach, I thought that would get the most out of this team and give us the best chance that we all want to have, which is going to the playoffs."
"It's not just the last two games that has precipitated this decision; it's a longer time frame," Johnson said. "I've had a couple years to think about this, and, yeah, I just think we can do better. The team can do better as we have this new leadership."
It seems like Johnson has been thinking about this decision for awhile now, it just seems like this is not the best timing. I also wonder if something had happened to their relationship, because no head coach should ever get thrown out of the building and not be able to speak to the players. This really shows how poor the upper management is for the New York Jets. While Saleh’s record is not great, neither is any head coach for the Jets for the past few decades. I think a lot of the pressure has been on the offense and I could see Hackett looking for a new job at the end of the season. The Jets have scored the same amount of points through five weeks compared to last season, even with the quarterback upgrade. There’s a good chance that play calling for the Jets will also be changed.
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