NY Jets made awful mistake of backing Nathaniel Hackett by firing Robert Saleh

The NY Jets have made the decision to part ways with head coach Robert Saleh, as his 20-36 record with the team was not acceptable. While it's not fair to accept that record for a coach with Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, Nathaniel Hackett being retained was odd.

Saleh's defense has been great once again, while Hackett's offense has completely fallen apart in the last two games. The latest reports made it seem like Saleh was done with Hackett, but the Jets did not allow him to act on his desires.

According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Saleh was considering firing Hackett as early as Tuesday before Johnson made the decision to part ways with Saleh. Before Saleh could make that decision official, Woody Johnson, who claims responsibility for the move, decided to get rid of him.

In a slight change on that reporting, SNY's Connor Hughes said that Saleh was not going to fire Hackett, but instead demote him and give play-calling duties to passing game coordinator Todd Downing. After coming to the decision, Saleh was reportedly fired just a few minutes later.

Jets chose to fire Robert Saleh without getting rid of Nathaniel Hackett

Hackett has not only been so poor as a coordinator that he didn't deserve to be hired as offensive coordinator, but he has proved all the haters who mocked the hiring 100% correct in their scorn. Hackett's offense was near the bottom in basically every category last season, and only the improvement of getting Rodgers back has saved him this year.

The Jets are going into a pivotal Monday Night Football game with the Buffalo Bills with the AFC East crown on the line, and they currently have a fired head coach, incompetent offensive coordinator, and no clear direction for the future that isn't tied to the declining No. 8 under center.

Rodgers deserves a good chunk of the blame for this even getting to this point. He has underperformed (relative to expectations) and doesn't seem to be interested in doing anything different. Hackett is here for the long run, irrespective of his play or how Saleh's defense looks.

Therein lies the big issue that makes this hiring confusing. Saleh is a defensive coach, and his defenses were amazing. The Jets, from an organizational point of view, are committed to Rodgers as the quarterback and Hackett as the offensive coordinator. Fans want accountability, but the two biggest reasons for the 2-3 start evade that accountability.

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