NY Jets: First 4 members of Robert Saleh’s staff reported

NY Jets‘ head coach Robert Saleh is wasting no time putting together his first staff as the first four members of his offense staff have reportedly been revealed.

Sports Illustrated’s Michael Silver reported on Monday that Saleh will be bringing with him two members of his 49ers’ staff in pass-game coordinator Mike LaFleur and offensive line coach John Benton.

LaFleur, a hire that had already been reported prior to Monday, will serve as the team’s offensive coordinator after spending the last four years as San Francisco’s pass-game coordinator.

Benton, a well-traveled offensive line coach, will continue to fill that role with the Jets as well as the addition of the title of run-game coordinator.

On top of that, Silver also reported that Saleh will be adding Atlanta Falcons’ quarterbacks coach, Greg Knapp, to be the Jets’ QBs coach as well as hiring Denver Broncos offensive quality control coach, Rob Calabrese, to be the Jets’ pass-game specialist.

What will each of the four additions bring to Robert Saleh’s staff with the NY Jets?

LaFleur is the most notable of the four having been considered one of the brightest young offensive minds in football for quite some time now. The brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is still very young, but was widely praised during his four years under Kyle Shanahan.

As for Benton, the Colorado native is perhaps best known for his time as the offensive line coach of the Houston Texans under Gary Kubiak from 2006 to 2013. His most success came when the Texans hosted the league’s best running game in the NFL with Arian Foster at running back.

Benton also served as the offensive line coach for the Rams and Dolphins before joining the 49ers in 2017.

Knapp is another experienced offensive veteran having been in the NFL in some capacity since 1997 when he first started as the offensive quality control coach of the 49ers.

Since then, he’s served as an offensive coordinator on multiple occasions and most recently was the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach from 2018 to 2020. Much like Benton, he’s widely respected around the league.

Finally, Calabrese is the least experienced of the four having gotten his first job with the Broncos in 2019 as the team’s offensive quality control coach. A native of East Islip on Long Island, Calabrese broke numerous high school records that were previously set by future NFL MVP Boomer Esiason.

He is also the coach that the Broncos petitioned to start earlier this year when the team was dealing with COVID-19 issues. The NFL said no, but at least the Jets know they have an emergency quarterback to rely on if duty calls.

Robert Saleh’s staff is beginning to take shape. And the early results are already providing significantly more positive feedback than Adam Gase’s staff.