I think it’s fair to say that if this team fails to improve and make at least a respectable showing in the playoffs everyone’s getting fired. That said, Ulbrich was on pace to be a very highly sought out candidate for HC vacancies this offseason. We’re essentially getting a free spin with him for the next 12 games to decide if he’s really cut out for the role, and if he is we’re going to have an advantage in keeping him. I’ll admit that I hate the idea of another Defensive minded coach, but something about Ulbrich hits differently. He reminds me of Vrabel and Campbell, and I think that it’s the authenticity factor and the clout of having been a former player in the league. The way he speaks is different than Saleh. He’s extremely positive and uplifting, but he always tags those statements with the effort required to reach their best, and he also always seems to make players aware of the consequence of not putting in the love and effort. I feel he has incredible leadership qualities, and these 12 games are a great opportunity to show us if he has the intellectual qualities needed as well. My “prediction” is we do make the playoffs, but not much further. I think Rodgers will retire, I don’t think he has another season in him physically. I think that opens the door for us to allow Ulbrich to replace the offensive staff entirely as we move forward looking to secure a QB for the future. But overall I just have this strange gut feeling that Woody just stumbled and bumbled his way into the best HC this team has had under his ownership.
Well ..Ulbricht has a 12 game opportunity and we will see how many Ws we get with him I may be wrong but most Teams don’t keep interims as HCs Also So So Joe D will stick his nose in the decision for sure and that would suck considering he got us loser Saleh
I also sense great leadership qualities in Ulbrich. The Jets have taken several defensive players from the scrap heap and drastically improved their play under Ulbrich. We haven't seen that on the offense at all under Saleh and Saleh's OCs.
Good points … we do have a built in “try before you buy” type of deal now with Ulbrecht. Also true that most teams don’t keep the interims, but that’s probably due to the fact that if a team fired their HC mid season it means it was a bad team, and that’s hard to turn around if you’re essentially keeping the same players and coaches for the year. Also, most interim coaches have fewer games…it’s not often that an HC gets fired after 5 games. That being said, the Raiders DID keep Antonio Pierce after he was the interim…doesn’t seem to be working out all that great for them, but who knows there’s still a lot of season left. I think the only real thing that changes here is leadership style and how he will hold players and coaches accountable. That was a huge issue for Saleh as long as he’s been here…a players coach…which isn’t necessarily bad, but he just had no discipline on this team and the lack of accountability was a glaring weakness…when you have team leaders like AR and Q talking about it, that’s the death knell for the HC…he’s lost the team. So a change had to be made. Unfortunately, Ulbrecht is a defensive guy, so maybe not in the best position to fix our main issue, which is the offense, but maybe just the change in discipline and accountability, like we’ve just seen with Hackett losing playcalling duties, may be enough. We’ll see. I do worry that the defense may take a step back…being HC is VERY different than OC/DC…there is a huge time suck with all the HC duties that a coordinator doesn’t have to deal with. I do believe that success as an HC is dependent not only on the direct ability to coach football, but also the administrative ability to run the whole team, the psychological ability to manage all the egos and such, etc. It’s a lot. Ulbrecht won’t have the time during the week to focus on defense. So we’ll see…I’m glad a change was made if for nothing other than enough is enough with the bullshit penalties and platitudes and lack of discipline. If nothing else, this at least sends a message that shit needs to improve or changes will be made. Gets rid of complacency (hopefully) I really hope Carter is shown the door sooner rather than later…it’s hard to find an HC or OC midseason because the offense is set, but I gotta believe changing out an OL coach shouldn’t be impossible…that OL has WAY underperformed and he needs to go.
I'm not sure this is a silver lining. In some ways, it's worst case scenario if Ulbrich does well because it increases our odds of yet again hitching our wagon to a defensive HC. We've had a near league-worst offense for about a decade now. It's insane. We need a total overhaul of our organizational philosophy. You cannot win games without a good offense. It takes priority over everything else. We've also had such bad offenses that we're inclined to overrate improvements on the offensive front. Getting to a league-average offense would be a gargantuan improvement from where we are now and it still wouldn't be good enough. That's why I'm in favor of wholesale changes. Honestly I think we're screwed. Not firing our coaches after last season has now had the ripple effect of putting us in a lose-lose situation. Either we underperform this season and sacrifice one of Rodgers' few remaining seasons, or we perform well and trick our idiotic owner into retaining a defensive HC. It's a disaster. It's legitimately probably better for our long-term future if we play poorly the rest of this year.
Good post ….. I’m excited to see what Ulbrich can do as the head guy. As far as Rodgers you may be right. I was thinking Jets go out and draft a QB and let him sit under Rodgers for 2025 but I’m not so sure Rodgers is cut out for that big brother role…I think that may go back to Favre not wanting to huddle up with Rodgers back when he was drafted. In any regard the Jets will probably be retooling the offense next year and they need to find a way to draft a good one even if they have to trade up…. and this time let him sit for a year and learn ….
Ulbrich wasn’t going to be a top tier HC candidate. He’s a tier 2 guy. Belichick Vrabel Slowik Johnson Pete Carroll? Those are the top tier guys IMO. Hopefully he’s the guy and turns out to be the CEO / leader we need, but like most others have said, we will be getting a damn DC again as a HC.
While I hope Ulbrich does great and even leads them to the SB, realistically his best effort might deliver them to the playoffs and a one and done, and that might a "worst case", where the "good is the enemy of the best" situation. Still I'm not going to root against him or the Jets, I always want them to win, or at least be exciting and unpredictable, so if he shows he can be a good HC I guess that's a good think. It doesn't necessarily mean that Woody has to give him the job permanently, if there's a much better candidate available - and I pray to all that's holy that candidate will be a successful, proven, offensive coach - then Woody can hire whoever that is. All that said, while I really want the next HC to be an offensive guy, there's some validity in believing that a really qualified defensive guy, preferably one who has been a HC before, can actually improve a team's offense because they know what to get the offense to work on to beat defenses. So I'm not rigidly against hiring a defensive guy, but he damn well better be able to apply his knowledge to building a great offense. The problem the Jets have had in hiring DCs as HCs is that they no ability to help the offense, and also tended to stay involved in the defense and delegated the offense, and so had no clue what to do when the offense struggled. If there's one thing that HAS to change, this is it: whoever is the next HC needs to understand offense (and defense) and be able to help them when they struggle, whatever it takes, including getting in people's faces and firing them if necessary.
I am with you... if he holds players and coaches accountable, like he said he would, then I think he will make a bigger difference then some of you think.
I have a really good feeling about Ulbrich as head coach. He gets a lot out of the defensive players and they play hard for him. He's also intimidating. It seems the players will do anything for him. You can't say that about the offense. You could say the opposite about the offense.
I think Saleh set the bar so low as far as being a HC, if Ulbrich chews some asses on the sideline for stupid fucking penalties, the team looks prepared, keeps the D playing as solid as they are and there's a pulse from the offense he may have a shot at keeping the job. Dan Campbell was the interim coach of the Dolphins and wasn't retained, if JU does a good job and gets the team to the playoffs, he's gotta be in the conversation going forward...
He's not Saleh, that's gold lining. I'm so down on the guy that I'm not even convinced he would run a good defense anymore.
These are admirable traits for a HS or College coach but we're talking about the NFL here. It's quite sad but this is the current state of the NY Jets and it has been for a LONG time now. Everything about this group wreaks of desperation and delusion. Johnson, Douglas, Rodgers and Hackett are all stroking each other saying everything is going great. Highly sought after HC candidate after this year? Based on what? I've never heard that once about Ulbrich. Share links if true. Let's face it. The Jets are a bottom feeder franchise. Ulbrich is an interim HC trying to save a sinking ship. Nothing more. He's not NFL head coaching material. He's the substitute/mid-season fill-in coach of a desperate franchise praying for a playoff berth. The Jets probably come out inspired on Monday night for him but then they'll revert to classic dysfunctional form. As I said before the Broncos disaster, good teams run off 3-4 wins in a row. Bad teams win one and then lose one or win two and lose two all season long. That is this team. Consistency is the key and they have none. Belichick made some interesting comments in a NY Post article yesterday when asked about his feelings on the Jets firing Saleh and the overall state of the franchise. “They’ve overall played pretty good defense over the last few years like that’s been a pretty solid group, but the rest of the organization, just some of the appearance of dysfunctionality, has been tough, and that’s the ownership, that’s personnel, that’s coaching. Where exactly that falls I’m not sure, but it just hasn’t looked good.” Saleh wasn't the real problem with this franchise obviously. He built a solid defense. I don't think anyone could dispute that. The problems are WAY deeper and higher than Robert Saleh. The real problems lie with Woody (ownership), Douglas/Rodgers (personnel) and Woody/Douglas/Rodgers again for hiring shitty coaches (Hackett as OC the obvious elephant in the room). So sad that I mention Rodgers in this group but that is another sign of this dysfunctional franchise that their aging QB has so much (way too much) pull in these kind of organizational decisions. Make no mistake, he does because that is so Woody Johnson-like. He's enamored by star power and fucking clueless about what it takes to build a winning franchise. Dysfunction is the only truth in this entire situation. And that dysfunction is Woody Johnson. Ben London looking real good right now but why the F would he come to the Jets when is going to have his choice of jobs next offseason. Woody is going to have to overpay to get anyone of top caliber to come here. The Jets really need a VP of Football Ops/GM who can build the entire franchise including hiring the Head Coach. Only a super convicted, strong minded, previous successful candidate with a definitive plan for success will have a chance here. It is the only way.
Who do you think built the current defense? Saleh. That was always his calling card. He's already a highly sought after DC and will get a lot of offers to return next season, if not sooner.
I really don't know who's responsible for the limited success of the defense; none of us have been in on any meetings, any teaching, any preparation. We can all take wild ass guesses. And why is it that some here want to slam the entire coaching staff but give the guy who hired them and directed them daily a free pass?
