By Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini and Mark Puleo
The New York Jets didn’t want to fire Robert Saleh after last season in part because they didn’t think they’d be able to find someone better to replace him — and also because Aaron Rodgers wanted him back. After five games of the 2024 season, Jets owner Woody Johnson decided Saleh wasn’t good enough anymore, firing him on Tuesday, two days after the team fell to 2-3 with a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will be the interim coach.
On a conference call Tuesday, Johnson said this Jets team was the most talented he’s ever seen assembled in New York, and he fired Saleh to give the team the best opportunity to win.
“This change I made today I believe will bring new energy and positivity that will lead to more wins starting now,” Johnson said.
Johnson did not consult with other members of the Jets’ front office, including general manager Joe Douglas, before making the decision to fire Saleh, team sources said. Johnson informed Saleh of his dismissal Tuesday morning. Saleh told the owner he understood the season’s expectations but that he thought he’d have more time to see it through, and emphasized the defense’s impressive performance during his tenure. But the decision had already been made — in a formality, Saleh was escorted out of the building by Robert Mastroddi, the team’s head of security and a friend of Saleh’s.
Johnson said Tuesday he did talk to Douglas about the firing, “but at the end of the day, this was my decision and my decision alone.” Johnson said he spoke with Rodgers on Monday after the team’s loss to the Vikings, but the topic of firing Saleh was not specifically discussed.
In three-plus seasons, Saleh went 20-36 and the Jets never sniffed the postseason despite having one of the NFL’s best defenses over the last two years. Saleh and his staff got a mulligan after last year, in part because Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury four plays into the season, leaving the Jets with a quarterback rotation of Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian. New York’s offense was mostly a disaster in a 7-10 season, and behind the scenes Saleh didn’t exactly win many fans with the way he handled the situation, often privately pointing out that other successful coaches around the league have also struggled with backup quarterbacks.
Then, the last two weeks happened — with Rodgers at quarterback. In losses to the Denver Broncos and Vikings, the offense has struggled in a way that it did when Wilson was still quarterback. The same issues — a team that looked unprepared at the start of games, too many penalties, questionable decision-making and a lack of accountability — ultimately proved to be enough for Johnson to pull the plug on Saleh five weeks into the season, the first time he’s ever fired a head coach in-season over 25 seasons as the Jets’ owner. According to a team source, Johnson felt the Jets have a roster that’s ready to compete now and felt compelled to make a move now before it was too late.
New York hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010, the longest drought in the NFL, and hasn’t had a winning season since 2015.
Multiple players and coaches told The Athletic after Sunday’s loss to the Vikings in London that the team’s vibes were “off,” that Saleh was losing support and that some — especially players on defense — were frustrated with the lack of accountability taking place as the offense kept making the same mistakes they made the last few years and wasted another stellar defensive effort. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett doesn’t have a lot of support on the Jets roster or coaching staff either, according to sources, and many were frustrated with his play-calling dating back to last year.
It’s my understanding that the Jets do not plan on firing OC Nathaniel Hackett.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 8, 2024
Pro Bowl linebacker Quincy Williams didn’t hide his frustration after the game.
“I’m gonna be honest. People get tired of hearing the same s—,” Williams told SNY. “People gotta take accountability from the top to the bottom. That’s all I gotta say … people gotta start taking accountability, I’m tired of saying the same thing every week.”
Johnson pushed back against the idea that the losses to the Broncos and Vikings precipitated Tuesday’s firing, saying instead “It’s a longer timeframe.”
“I’ve had a couple years to think about this and I just think we can do better,” the owner said. “The team can do better. As we have this new leadership, I think it’s going to bring out the best in these players.”
Ultimately, Johnson’s move came at a pivotal moment for a team that had such high hopes in training camp. New York hosts the Buffalo Bills on Monday, and despite the down start to the season, can move into a tie for first in the AFC East at 3-3 with a win.
Ulbrich found out while game-planning for the Bills, calling it “four hours of craziness.”
In his first address to the team, Ulbrich said he told Jets players to “lock arms,” adding “I’m very excited about connecting with this locker room.”
Coach Jeff Ulbrich on his relationship with QB Aaron Rodgers: pic.twitter.com/ATPYEi07hq
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 8, 2024
“Everything is on the table right now,” Ulbrich said with regards to potential changes on the team at large. “We are too talented to be putting out the product we’ve put out the last couple weeks.”
Ulbrich was the obvious choice to replace Saleh for the remainder of this season. He is beloved by the Jets roster and staff, along with being respected by Rodgers. Saleh excelled as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers before the Jets hired him in 2021, but he handed the keys of the defense to Ulbrich when he became a head coach. Ulbrich has been a driving force in getting the Jets from the 32nd-ranked scoring defense in 2021 to fourth in 2022, 12th in 2023 and seventh so far in 2024.
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“He’s just a real coach,” defensive end Jermaine Johnson told The Athletic last season. “He’s done it, which is extremely important for me. It’s very easy for me to take what he says and apply it because I know he’s done it, he’s been there. He did it at a high level. Obviously he’s proven himself in terms of how he can run a defense and lead a group of alphas and a group of dominant men. I don’t see why he wouldn’t be a head coach. I think everything good that comes to him, he deserves 100 percent.”
Ulbrich really started warming up to the idea of becoming a head coach one day before last season, he told people close to him. He served as a head coach at the Senior Bowl earlier this year and it gave him a taste of what that might look like.
“I think it’s a chance for me to look at it from a different perspective, from a global perspective,” Ulbrich said. “It’s just amazing how many little things that I never really thought of as a position coach and a coordinator that a head coach has to deal with, so many non-football things. It’s been interesting from that standpoint. It’s a great opportunity from that standpoint, to look at it through that lens.”
Now he’ll get a real chance to prove to the Jets — or another team that might have an opening — that he deserves a shot at the full-time job. The path is laid out in front of him: The Jets have a playoff-caliber roster and it’s early enough in the season to turn things around, starting this week against the Buffalo Bills. With a win, they’d be tied for first place in the AFC East. This is an organization that hasn’t made the postseason in 13 years, and if Ulbrich is able to pull that off after the Jets’ slow start to the year, it would be a convincing argument for a promotion to the full-time job. If the Jets continue to stumble, there are some appealing coaching candidates expected to be available this offseason, including former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who should top the list of candidates if Ulbrich doesn’t keep the job.
Saleh did not do enough to get to the postseason. So now the Jets move forward with Ulbrich, with their goal of the playoffs still intact.
“This is a new day for the team, and it’s a new day that’s welcomed,” Johnson said. “And as the team realizes what opportunity this is for them, I think they’re going to go to a level we haven’t seen in a while.”
Required reading
(Photo: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)