Robert Saleh's era with the Jets came to a quick and surprising end Tuesday morning.
Owner Woody Johnson fired Saleh just before 10 a.m., in his fifth game in his fourth year as head coach, two days after the Jets lost a disappointing 23-17 to the Vikings in London, snapping a disappointing second straight loss. did.
The Jets have named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach.
The timing of this move was surprising.
The Jets are 2-3 this season with encouraging wins over the Titans and Patriots.
But Saleh, who had one year left on his contract, couldn't overcome his 20-36 record and Johnson's feeling that he wasn't fixing the Jets' problems as they entered this season with Super Bowl aspirations.
“When you look at this team, I've been doing this for 25 years, this is probably the best team we've had in 25 years,” Johnson said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon. “And we felt the best way to move forward was a new direction. We thought that would get the best out of this team and give us the best chance we all wanted of making the playoffs.” Ta.”
This is the first time Johnson has changed the coaching staff midway through the season as owner.
Sources said the 77-year-old Johnson was furious after the Jets' 10-9 loss to the Broncos last week.
He wanted Mr. Saleh to make fundamental changes.
Follow the latest updates on the firing of New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
Saleh instead preached patience, something Johnson was unable to do.
The Jets then failed in London, but Johnson served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021 under former President Donald Trump.
Johnson took a long flight home to think about the team's future and made the decision to fire Saleh on Tuesday morning.
Saleh showed up to work Monday night prepared for the game plan for the Jets' opponent, the Bills.
Shortly before 10 a.m., Mr. Johnson and his brother Christopher entered Mr. Saleh's office and broke the news. Saleh wanted to say goodbye to the team, but was not given the opportunity.
He was asked to leave the building.
Johnson said the decision was not made based on the past two losses, but rather on Saleh's body of work.
“It's not just the last two games that caused this decision. It's a longer period of time,” Johnson said. “It took me a few years to think about this. And yeah, I think we can do better. The team can do better. The team understands what an opportunity this is for them. So I think they're going to reach a level that we haven't seen in a while.”
Coach Johnson brought Saleh back after two consecutive 7-10 seasons last year, knowing that if the team underperformed this year, Saleh would leave.
Saleh was hoping for a full season to compete in the playoffs with Aaron Rodgers, but he played in just five games.
Sources said Johnson was tired of the same problems that had plagued the team in recent years: slow starts, too many penalties and sloppy offensive play.
The Jets had hoped that things would change with Rodgers at quarterback, but they continue to lose with the same pattern of defense stifling opponents and offense mistakes leading to games being lost.
The Jets did not fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, but Saleh took over play-calling duties from him before he was fired, according to sources, and Todd, the team's passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, took over the play-calling duties from him.・He is reportedly preparing to leave the matter to Mr. Downing.
Ulbrich said he would “deep dive” into the offensive struggles and would consider bringing in a new play-caller.
He said no personnel changes are planned.
“I think that's one of the reasons I decided to change coaches is just that: We need to find a way to win,” Johnson said. “So you can't just do the same thing over and over again and find a way to do it. I think Jeff will add something. He'll add a positive spark. We've got to do it offensively. We will make changes. We will strive to be better. This is a new opportunity for all of us.”
Johnson said he spoke with Rodgers on Monday night but did not discuss Saleh's future.
No sources indicated that Rodgers was involved in this decision.
The players privately expressed their shock at the decision to sack coach Saleh. He was popular in the locker room and the players still played hard for him.
Johnson said he consulted general manager Joe Douglas, but stressed that this was his decision alone. This will be the first mid-season coaching change for the Jets since 1976, when Lou Holtz resigned with one game remaining.
“I have enough experience to do these things,” Johnson said. “This is the first time it's finished this quickly. I thought this would help this talented team achieve the goals that the team and I, and the fans, want.”
