Too bad it didn't work out for him here. Just wasn't a good enough head coach, honestly. He definitely was hindered by personnel decisions (mainly at QB) and partially hamstrung by the offensive coaching staff - which was of course partially his fault for not making necessary changes on the offensive staff. But I think he the Rodgers factor usurped some power from him. He was part of the problem, but the offensive staff is the bigger issue. I can only hope Jeff Ulbrich can do something about this. @RichCimini A statement from former #Jets HC Robert Saleh: To the Jets Organization, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many incredible people. I will always be appreciative of the love and support from everyone at 1 Jets Drive. To all of the players, I truly love and appreciate every single one of you. The character of the men in the locker room made coaching you guys the ultimate privilege. Through all the ups and downs, each and every one of you showed up everyday and attacked every moment. To my fellow coaches and staff, it has been an honor to work with all of you. Every one of you were “all in” and made sacrifices for one another that will never be forgotten. I wish you all the very best of luck for the remainder of the season. To the most passionate fan base in the NFL, thank you for embracing my family. It has been a pleasure calling New York our home and we will forever appreciate all of the memories that were created here. With Love and Regard, All Gas No Brake!!!
To be fair, the issue was not just the offense, but the overall lack of preparedness of the entire team every week. The defense has been starting just as slow as the offense, and in the case of the San Francsico game, they never got started at all. That's more on Saleh than any of the coordinators. At least the defense makes adjustments and tightens up usually, but if Saleh had the team ready to go, both sides of the ball would be much more likely to come out swinging. The truth is, we have no idea what Rodgers said to Woody; we're only speculating. But I don't worry too much about the concept of Rodgers pretty much controlling the team. That's just standard practice when you have a tier 1 QB; guys like Marino, Elway, Montana, Manning, Brady, Mahomes, etc. also had (have) a huge amount of influence, rivaling their coaches, on their respective teams. Yes, they can and do demand say in personnel decisions, because they are seen as team leaders, and their word is usually trusted. Can they be wrong? Of course. But like you said, Rodgers is likely on notice as well.
I hear what you're saying, but here's the crucial difference. Did any of the QBs you mentioned ever demand that an OC keep his job and his play-calling duties even though the offense is a mess and the OC is universally regarded as incompetent? Here's what Florio reported this morning: At a meeting on Tuesday morning, Saleh informed the coaching staff that passing game coordinator Todd Downing would become the game-day play-caller, with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett demoted. Hackett wasn’t being fired in the classic sense, but it was going to be his decision to whether he stayed. Then, after the meeting, Saleh found out he was being fired in the classic sense.
Not so comforting stat I saw yesterday: Of the 27 examples in NFL history when a head coach was fired before week 6, only once has that team made the playoffs. That one time was when Gruden got fired from Raiders 5 or so years ago. And that was not because he was necessarily failing as a head coach, but because of those emails that leaked when he was with Monday Night Football.
Of course I can only speculate what, if anything, Rodgers said to Woody, but the sequence of events seems to rule out mere coincidence. As to those other Tier QBs having a lot of influence, of course they do, but I don't think any of them had more influence than the HC. I don't recall any of them going to bat for their OC and getting the HC fired. That's the most disturbing aspect of this (if true). And let me be clear, Saleh did more than enough on his own to justify his firing without Rodgers' help, but if it's true that Saleh was getting ready to step Hackett down and make other major changes on the offense that might have made a big difference but was fired before he could so, that just speaks to the dysfunction and cluelessness of Woody who only ever seems to make kneejerk decisions. After decades as a Jets fan, I despair of anything that can change things short of maybe hiring a successful President of Football Ops who has deep knowledge of how to construct a strong offensive team, and I don't really know of anyone who take on that job under Woody. Better that he just sell the team to owners who do know how to build a winning franchise, but I don't think either of those things are going to happen.
I’m the minority, but there is plenty of data out there that AR had zero involvement in the decision. Further, I truly believe that the demotion of Hackett and removal from play calling will still occur sooner than later. Saleh was fired because Woody was completely fed up with his lack of involvement and unwillingness to make changes. Woody was livid after the Broncos game as we were all. Vikings was the las straw. He is expecting changes in that offense, whatever it takes, and sure as hell includes Hackett. We shall see.
This is kind of where I’m at as well…I would not say Saleh didn’t deserve to be fired with his record and the fact that he’s just been a glorified DC…he has never taken ownership of the offense and that’s enough to get you fired as the HC. Period. That being said, he was given Zach and not much else to work with for the most important position in the game…even the great Belichick didn’t do jack shit without Brady. And the team fired his chosen OC as a fall guy to cover for the lack of development of Zach. So that is a partial defense on some of that record. He was also given Rodgers and Hackett….I don’t really believe Hackett was his choice … that hire was made for only one specific reason … to get AR in the building. Still, outside of the offense being shit, which is ultimately on the HC, the perhaps bigger issue is his overall leadership … this team does not look prepared to play WAY too often…it showed badly on the opener in SF, it showed badly vs. Denver and Minny…just way too often the team doesn’t seem to know a game just started. Then there is the disgusting level of penalties…and not just penalties, but stupid ass penalties like false starts and lining up offside… not even effort penalties…but stupid shit. And then the lack of accountability…all the classic signs of a coach who’s lost his team. They have tuned him out, and to paraphrase Antonio Pierce, it sure as hell feels like too many guys are making “business decisions”. I don’t know what’s gotten into Breece Hall but this is not the same guy we’ve seen the last couple of years. Don’t know why GW all of a sudden doesn’t know what routes he should be running. Kind of wild. But this is on the offensive coaches, specifically Hackett as OC and there’s no hiding the fact that whatever the fuck Keith Carter is coaching, it ain’t working…the OL should NOT be this bad in both the running and passing game…I can look at Breece and say WTF man, but on half his runs, he’s running right into a DL as soon as he gets the ball. I don’t know how this firing fixes the offense…but the hope is Ulbrecht can actually hold guys accountable and get some discipline installed, and maybe that trickles down. And that accountability should extend to the coaches as well… We’ll see…I think typically a new interim guy sometimes inspires a new attitude and can spark a team in the short run…let’s hope that starts Monday night. But I agree…overall, NONE of this gets better until Woody gets someone who actually knows how to build a team in here and lets him do it…I was really hoping that JD was that guy, but after 6 years on the job, it sure feels like it should have happened by now.
I hate the idea of midseason firings and generally hate reactionary, emotion-filled moves. Winning in the NFL is tough. Bengals are 1-4! That said, HC has to be the responsible entity. He cannot abdicate on offense. Even in the Zach days, how do you go into a season with a QB like that and not have an effective ground game, or demand from your OC to have a game plan that is somewhat adjusted to his skillset. this seasons the team has been sloppy. Cannot consistently stop the run. Can't pass block seemingly, can't run block seemingly. penalties. players confused and regressing i know people want to blame AR and his apparent defense of Hackett but in my book AR knows more about winning and winner than Saleh does. immediate action items are achievable. Less penalties. No slow starts, Better run defense. Don't totally, suck on offense and progress from there
you guys seem ok with an richborn idiot running the team fire the (defense oriented) HC and replace him with his assistant. joke franchise.
We all acknowledge that, but the HC is ultimately responsible for both the offense and defense. Saleh's ceiling is DC. By the way, who hired our entire offensive coaching staff other than Hackett? Saleh! Literally nobody is saying this. Find me one single post defending Woody. There are even entire threads dedicated to what a disaster he is.
That's the thing, there is absolutely no evidence Rodgers knew about the firing. And there are statements from 1st party saying he didn't know. Especially wild is the theory that Saleh told Hack he won't call plays on Monday, Hack called Rodgers, Rodgers called Woody, and then Woody called Saleh into his office and fired him. All within 5 minutes. Come on guys, some honest reporting please. Now I do think AR gave some negative feedback about Saleh to Woody over the past few weeks. Why? Because they talk openly and Saleh sucked. You heard the accountability comments from multiple players. So I am sure Woody knew AR would not cry too much if he fired Saleh and probably won't mind. But to say without any evidence at all that AR basically fired Saleh, particularly because he demoted Hack 5 mins before, is simply inaccurate reporting.
If you weren't so blinded by your irrational support of Wilson you would understand that Mike White was the starter when any shirts were worn giving him support by his teammates. It has everything to do with your boy who was not the starter as you stated. You don't get any points for your personal attack but only show how desperate you are to continue your backing of the worst QB in recent Jets history. Guys like you were as wrong as Saleh was in keeping Wilson on the field as long as he did, admit it.
Jets are gonna be so "accountable" now that the interim HC had to say "but I do not foresee any changes in the staff. "
