Robert Saleh Fired by Jets amid Aaron Rodgers' Struggles; Jeff Ulbrich Named Interim

The New York Jets have fired head coach Robert Saleh following a 2-3 start to the 2024 NFL season. Jeff Ulbrich will take over as the interim head coach.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported Ulbrich will be given "a chance to earn the permanent job" over the final 12 games of the regular season.

According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, Saleh "came in for work this morning as usual and was informed by Jets owner Woody Johnson" that he was being fired.

Schultz added Saleh's relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers "was not fractured, despite speculation." Schultz reported Rodgers and Saleh were "getting along" and that the coach's dismissal "was carried out solely by Woody Johnson."

The Jets went 20-36 in Saleh's three-plus seasons at the helm, and their postseason drought extended to 13 years under his watch.

Firing Saleh is both a defensible decision amid the Jets' current predicament and a move that's unlikely to solve their larger issues.

The 45-year-old's expertise as a defensive coach was on display in the Big Apple. Once he had time to get his ideas across, New York was an elite squad on defense.

It's pretty much with everything else where Saleh seemed to struggle.

Before and after Rodgers arrived, the Jets offense has been a disappointment. The franchise has little to collectively show from its investment with the Rodgers trade and the draft picks it has used on Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Zach Wilson, Elijah Moore and Denzel Mims, among others.

A postmortem on the Jets' disastrous 2023 campaign by The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini wasn't very flattering to Saleh, either.

There was a sense around the team the coach was a little too quick to lean on Rodgers' season-ending Achilles injury as a catch-all excuse for its losing record. Players and coaches also "grew tired of the way Saleh fawned over Rodgers," per Rosenblatt and Russini.

The one revelation fans probably remembered most was Saleh's reaction to comments from Rodgers about internal matters getting leaked out to reporters.

"The coach held a meeting with his staff two days later where he asked the leaker to reveal himself, according to multiple people in attendance, Rosenblatt and Russini reported. 'If you come forward now, you won't get in trouble,' he told them while threatening to take their cell phones. Staffers were bemused by Saleh's obsession with the Wilson story and his reaction to it."

Was Saleh going to be the coach who got the Jets over the top with more time? Probably not.

Is there another coach who can achieve that goal with New York's current roster? Also probably not.

That's by and large due to the fact the front office went all in on Rodgers, only to have the gamble backfire spectacularly.

Through five starts, the four-time MVP looks like a 40-year-old quarterback who's coming off a major Achilles injury. He has thrown for 1,093 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions and has an 81.6 passer rating.

Beyond the practical on-field concerns, firing Saleh will only strengthen the perception Rodgers is the single most influential voice within the organization, which is to the Jets' detriment.

Maybe the formula to turn New York around is as simple as having a new voice in the locker room to lead the players. Considering two of the Jets' three losses were by one score, positive regression could also be inevitable regardless of who the coach is; it's the myth of the "new manager bounce" in world soccer.

But it feels as though the franchise is already doomed to its fate thanks to decisions made before this year, ones that went above Saleh's pay grade.