Jets decision to fire Robert Saleh could come back to bite them in short term

The NY Jets have had enough of head coach Robert Saleh, even just five games into the 2024 season. Following a brutal loss in London to the Minnesota Vikings, owner Woody Johnson has apparently had enough, bringing an end to the Saleh tenure before he ever got in sync with Aaron Rodgers.

Saleh was relieved of his duties after a 20-36 record in parts of four seasons. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who himself has been a hot coaching commodity after performing well as Saleh's righthand man, has been named the interim head coach.

While fans might be right to celebrate this move, as it looked increasingly unlikely that Saleh was going to be the coach who helped take them to a championship, is there a chance this ends up coming back to bite the Jets in the rear end? The timing of this seems weird from the start.

The Jets would be in first place if they were able to beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The fact the division is right there in front of them makes wholesale organizational changes, ones that could expedite the departure of Rodgers next offseason, even more, shocking and unusual.

NY Jets firing of Robert Saleh could come back to haunt them

Saleh's defense consistently ranked near the top of the league despite getting no favors from their quarterbacks. Unlike Todd Bowles having a bad defense or Adam Gase looking clueless on offense, Saleh had his side of the ball figured out. Saleh only had five full starts with Aaron Rodgers, while 39 of his starts featured Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle, or Trevor Siemian.

The Jets' biggest problem is their lackluster offensive scheme and consistency. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was retained, as was much-maligned offensive line coach Keith Carter. Will Saleh leaving the building suddenly turn them into Kyle Shanahan?

The Jets lost twice to two superior opponents in San Francisco and Minnesota and were a missed field goal away from beating a red-hot Broncos team. The Jets are struggling, but was it really so bad that a coaching change was necessary, all while keeping the worst parts of the staff?

Saleh will assuredly get some defensive coordinator jobs in the future; he's going to be fine. However, the Jets may have messed with some of their formula for success by getting rid of a defensive mastermind without switching things up on offense.

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