Robert Saleh was well aware of the pressure he faced as head coach of the New York Jets heading into their Week 5 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. According to ESPN’s Kimberley Martin, Jets owner Woody Johnson had made it clear to Saleh and the coaching staff that the Vikings game was a “must-win.”
This directive came after a frustrating 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4, which further highlighted the team’s struggles early in the season.
While Saleh knew Johnson was upset, Martin noted that the head coach didn’t view the statement as an ultimatum, given the relatively early stage of the season. Nonetheless, the sense of urgency was palpable. The Jets fired Saleh on Tuesday, just two days after their 26-13 loss to Minnesota, appointing defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach.
Johnson’s dissatisfaction with the team’s performance wasn’t new. He had expressed frustration as early as February, after the Jets finished the 2023 season with a disappointing 7-10 record. At the NFL Honors ceremony that month, Johnson made it clear that the 2024 season was a pivotal year for both the coaching staff and the front office.
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“The discussions I’ve had in the last couple of months, they’ve seen me about as mad as I can be,” Johnson said during the event. “We have all this talent, and we have to deploy talent properly. So I think they all got the message. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year.”
At the time, Johnson also mentioned that Saleh, who had built his coaching career on defense, would be taking a more active role in improving the offense. The expectation was that defensive responsibilities would shift to Ulbrich, allowing Saleh to focus on fixing an underperforming offense.
“He’s going to concentrate on offense,” Johnson stated. “He’s got [DC] Jeff [Ulbrich] to kind of do the defense, and we’ve got good special teams. It’s offense, offense, offense.”
Unfortunately, the results did not meet expectations. Even with the addition of future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Jets’ offense failed to show improvement. Through the first five games of the season, the team had scored 93 points—the exact same amount they managed in the first five games of 2023 with Zach Wilson under center.
While it’s unfair to place all of the blame on Saleh, several factors contributed to the offensive woes. Rodgers threw three interceptions in the loss to the Vikings, marking just the sixth time in his career that he had done so. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s scheme also came under heavy scrutiny, with critics calling his system outdated and ineffective for the modern NFL.
Additionally, the Jets’ offensive line, which was expected to be a strength after the offseason acquisitions of Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, and rookie Olu Fashanu, severely underperformed. Through five games, the unit ranked 27th in both pass-block and run-block win rate, according to ESPN.
Despite these challenges, Saleh’s overall record as head coach—20-36 with no playoff appearances in four seasons—proved to be his downfall. The Jets had gone all-in by acquiring the 40-year-old Rodgers, and with mounting pressure to deliver immediate results, Johnson ultimately decided that a coaching change was necessary.
By moving on from Saleh, Johnson is hoping that Ulbrich can stabilize the team and possibly spark a turnaround. Time will tell if this midseason shakeup leads to better results on the field, but the Jets are in a critical phase, needing to salvage their season before it slips further out of reach.
