Robert Saleh exudes surprising outward calm for an NFL head coach agonizing over one last chance that absolutely no “what if”s are possible.
Saleh is 18-33 with the Jets due to open the season at San Francisco in less than two weeks and is beginning his fourth season with the team.
Still, he has that look on his face that says, “What? Am I worried?”
Don't get me wrong. Saleh Dead Man Walking.
He has a Hall of Fame quarterback in a finally healthy Aaron Rodgers, some intriguing skill-position talent to surround him and a revamped offensive line to (in theory) protect him.
He's also a top-five defensive player.
The Jets should finally be good under Saleh, and with the three head coaches he hired in 2021 now fired, the Jets should be in the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
But Saleh is a realist. He knows the NFL shares the same “it won't last” philosophy as the National Football League, and he knows his record isn't good enough.
But he also knows that in his three seasons at quarterback, he's been given the worst casting call even the most sadistic person could come up with (Zach Wilson, Mike White, Josh Johnson, Joe Flacco, Chris Streveler, Rodgers in four plays, Trevor Simian, Tim Boyle).
Saleh's 2024 Jets haven't had such high expectations in a long time, and this is the latest of many challenges he faces: How to handle those high expectations, not to mention the pressure of being fired if this team doesn't make the playoffs (at least).
His three seasons there have been eventful, but none of them were as tough as last season, when Rodgers went down minutes into the season opener and the team was not prepared to bounce back from such major adversity.
Saleh spoke candidly on Tuesday about his shortcomings in responding to the “chaos” (his words), acknowledging many of the mistakes he made.
“Last year, frankly, I was probably a little bit off,” Saleh said.[I’m] Just taking advantage of this year and re-evaluating myself and what I need to do from a holistic standpoint: offense, defense, special teams. The management stuff is easy. Going back to the X's and O's and making sure all of us, including myself, are focused on that.”
Asked what he meant by “chaos,” Saleh replied: “There was a lot of chaos last year, right? [I was] I was just trying to control things that were beyond my control. [Now, I’m] It’s just allowing me to refocus on what I can control.”
Of the NFL's 32 head coaches, only 10 have been with their current team longer than Saleh, and that list includes only five in the AFC and one in the AFC East.
Saleh smiled at the memory.
“To be honest, I'm not trying to be cheesy. [but] “With the way the league is, it's an opportunity every year for a coach, and especially over the last 10 to 15 years,” Saleh said. “No matter what year you get hired, you're on your own. It could be your first year, your 10th year, your 20th year. You're on your own, and one bad year gets you fired.”
Of course, the Jets underperformed for three years under Saleh, and owner Woody Johnson likely wouldn't tolerate a fourth year.
Saleh knows this.
“You get used to being in an environment where the expectations are there,” Saleh said, “so that's why it's so, so important.” [to] “Stay in the moment, stay on your feet and be a problem solver. Last year was a great reminder of that.”
Saleh believes the trials and tribulations of last year — a polite way of saying “a horrible show” — will prepare him and his staff to meet this year's expectations.
“Whenever you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, [situation]”To grow in the world, to grow as an individual, you have to be in uncomfortable environments,” Saleh said. “I'd say last year was one of the most uncomfortable environments we've had as an organization, and I think our players, our coaches, everybody in this building is better because of it.”
“We've spent a lot of time this offseason studying what we did a year ago, so if something bad happens, we have a lot of confidence that we can adjust and always put our guys in a position to be successful.” [That] That has been a major focus this entire offseason.
“We're definitely better because of what happened last year.”
We'll start to see just how true that statement is when the Jets finally play in earnest on Sept. 9 in their season opener against the 49ers.
