Woody Johnson nearly fired Jeff Ulbrich before making him NY Jets HC

Cautious optimism has returned to Florham Park following the NY Jets' decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh and replace him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

The decision was made by team owner Woody Johnson, who is hoping Ulbrich could provide "new energy" and "positivity" to an organization seeking to avoid 14 years without a playoff appearance.

Ulbrich has garnered a stellar reputation around the NFL for his work with the Jets' defense over the last few seasons and was the obvious choice to replace Saleh, but that hasn't always been the case.

In fact, while Johnson may adore Ulbrich in 2024, his opinion was very different not too long ago. There was a time in the recent past when Ulbrich was nearly fired by the Jets' owner.

NY Jets almost fired Jeff Ulbrich before eventually making him head coach

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reported this week that Ulbrich was once "in the crosshairs" of Johnson following a rocky start to Saleh's coaching tenure. The Jets considered making a change at defensive coordinator before ultimately deciding to retain Ulbrich.

Breer went on to state that Johnson's perception of Ulbrich changed once Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers called and expressed interest in poaching the Jets' defensive coordinator.

Johnson seemingly wasn't fully sold on Ulbrich as a coach until the 49ers came calling. That apparently changed his entire opinion of Ulbrich. Now, Ulbrich is the Jets' new head coach.

Breer's timeline does appear to be slightly off. He's reporting that the 49ers showed interest in Ulbrich in early 2023, but various reports suggest that interest didn't come until 2024. It seems unlikely that Johnson would have considered firing Ulbrich following the 2022 or 2023 seasons.

But this is Woody Johnson we're talking about. Despite the Jets' defensive dominance, perhaps Johnson was searching for a scapegoat, much like former offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur was made the fall guy in early 2023.

Either way, if Breer's report is at least somewhat accurate, Johnson's opinion of Ulbrich changed once the 49ers made that call. That indirectly led to Ulbrich one day becoming the Jets' head coach and quite possibly made his decision to move on from Saleh that much easier.

Johnson has been known to make decisions on a whim. He's impressionable to a fault sometimes and very much cares about public perception. That's why Breer's report is believable, even if his timeline is slightly off.

Regardless, Johnson seems to be very high on Ulbrich in the present day. His adoration of Ulbrich likely contributed to the decision to part ways with Saleh. Here's to hoping it was the correct decision.

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