The New York Jets are moving on from their head coach, as they made the decision to fire Robert Saleh on Tuesday and name defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach.
The Jets began the 2024 season 2-3, with the most recent loss coming to former Jets’ No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings in London. The last NFL head coach to be fired five games into a season was Matt Rhule in 2022, by the Carolina Panthers.
Jets owner Woody Johnson released a statement confirming the news:
Saleh, who came to New York after a successful stint as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, went 20-36 as head coach of the Jets, and never had a winning season. That was expected to change when the Jets traded for Aaron Rodgers, but through five weeks, it’s clear that the offense — and team as a whole — is still searching for its identity.
The firing blindsided Saleh, according to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, who added that Saleh is disappointed that he will not have the opportunity to get things going with what he called a very good roster.
Finding success with the four-time NFL MVP the Jets traded for was something Saleh had to do if he wanted to keep his job. Yet Rodgers is off to the worst start of his career, having recorded the fewest passing yards (1,093), his worst yards per attempt (6.0) and worst passer rating (81.6) through five games in his Hall of Fame career.
Saleh has fielded one of the best defenses in the league over the past few years. In fact, the Jets enter Week 6 as the No. 2 unit in terms of total yards allowed per game (255.8). But Saleh’s offenses have always disappointed. The Jets averaged the fewest points per game in the NFL with Saleh as lead man (17.3), while starting six different quarterbacks in Rodgers, Zach Wilson, Mike White, Joe Flacco, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle.
