The shock firing of New York Jets Coach Robert Saleh came out of the blue. Jets owner Woody Johnson has never fired a coach mid-season, not in the 24 years since he acquired the Jets. It’s an awkward time to fire a coach – less than a third into the season. Will the Jets be able to recover momentum? It will be tough to rally back in the face of all the challenges ahead. For one thing, Aaron Rodgers has to pull together their offense and produce a working unit.

He’s the big name really, since Saleh’s dismissal. Not so much Saleh’s replacement, Jeff Ulbrich, but what role Aaron Rodgers had to play in this episode. Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniels had a thing or two to say about that. He wasted no time calling Rodgers “the coach killer,” pointing to his track record.

Case in point, the dismissal of Mike McCarthy from the Green Bay Packers mid-season in 2018. Though this came at a situation when the Jets were on a 3 game losing streak that put them at 4-7, there was more going on. Apparently, Rodgers often kicked up a fuss over McCarthy’s play-calling. If there was a play he wouldn’t like, the team would do it, but the mood on-field would not be upbeat.

Did something similar kick in with the Saleh firing? Aaron Rodgers claimed he didn’t play any role in the dismissal. Recently, Woody Johnson came out and said that though he did speak to Rodgers the night before he fired Saleh, the decision to fire Robert Saleh was not part of the discussion. Of course, we have only his word for it, but we’ll have to trust him. But as Chase Daniel said, Saleh was fired after only 6 games with Rogers at the helm. It’s not unlikely the quarterback had a thing or two to say about how he’d handled the offense.

And you can’t deny things seemed tense between Rodgers and Saleh. Perhaps the highlight of the Jets season so far has been their overwhelming 27-3 home win against the Patriots. Amid the celebrations, we saw the controversial hug turned to shove. There’s already been much discussion about it.

So we won’t pile on our speculation. But that, combined with the perceived snub when Saleh singled out Rodgers ‘cadence’ after apparent play-calling issues, does paint a picture of internal strife. We’ll just have to wait and see if incoming interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich fares better.

Does Saleh have a future in the league?

It’s not difficult to tell the New York Jets were clearly struggling this season. Their offense is ranked 23rd in terms of DVOA, and though they have a good defense, it can’t carry them. It’s possible to blame either Saleh or Rodgers for this. You’d probably only be being fair if you blamed both, though. Minnesota Vikings Chief Kevin “KOC” O’Connell has spoken out in his favor, though. He echoed the sentiment that “you’re only as good as today and yesterday” as a coach.

Part of the problem is that Saleh’s always been a defense-minded coach. He thrived as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator back in the day. Even with the Jets, the defense has thrived under him and Ulbrich, which might have embittered Aaron Rodgers. This was his first head coach job, and he seems to have blown it.

The Jets haven’t had a season with more wins than losses under him, since 2021, and went 20-36 overall. But he’ll definitely be in high demand as a defensive coordinator. We’ll just have to wait and see who snaps him up.