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The New York Jets traveled to London in Week 5 hoping to improve their record to 2-2 on the season. Instead, they fell to 2-3, and that was enough to make a big organizational change.

The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh just five games into the 2024 NFL season. The 45-year-old is the first NFL coach to be fired in the 2024 season and is expected to be temporarily replaced by defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich .

New York hired Saleh after his impressive four-year stint as defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, hoping he could turn around the struggling Jets franchise.

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While Saleh turned the Jets' defense into one of the NFL's best stopping units, the team never became a true playoff contender. They finished Saleh's first three seasons with a losing record and a slow start to the 2024 season led to his firing.

Here's what you should know about the Jets' decision to release Saleh and his overall record with the Jets.

Why did the Jets fire Robert Saleh?

The Jets fired Robert Saleh after struggling to win consistently under his leadership for more than three years.

“This was not an easy decision, but we are not yet where we should be expected to be,” Jets owner Woody Johnson wrote in a statement announcing the firing. “I think now is the best time for us to go in a different direction.”

Saleh went just 20-36 with the Jets, and while his defense was routinely among the best in the league, New York's offense was at the other end of the spectrum.

The Jets ranked in the bottom ten in both yards and points in each of the three-plus seasons that Saleh led the Jets. These included rankings of 27th in yards per game and 25th in points per game entering the 2024 NFL season, despite Aaron Rodgers being available and an improved offensive line in front of him.

Saleh had a tough time at quarterback, as the Jets used six different players at the position during his 56 games in New York. They were:

  • Zach Wilson, 31 games
  • Mike White, 7
  • Aaron Rodgers, 6
  • Joe Flacco, 5
  • Trevor Siemian, 3rd
  • Tim Boyle, 2

It would be difficult for any NFL coach to establish a winning record with this quarterback team, but Saleh had plenty of time to fix the team's offensive problems. During his three-plus seasons, he hired two different offensive coordinators — Mike LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett — and was effectively given a reprieve from the Jets' woes in 2023 after Rodgers suffered an Achilles tendon injury four times during the season.

But simply put: the results weren't there. Therefore, the Jets believed it was the right time to make a move and try to cheer them on in what is expected to be a close race for the AFC East.

There also seemed to be some tension between Rodgers and Saleh in the second year of their partnership. The coach fined his star quarterback in June for missing minicamp for a planned trip to Egypt, and the two had some unpleasant arguments early in the 2024 NFL season.

Notably, Rodgers appeared to shrug off a hug from Saleh during the Jets' Week 3 win over the New England Patriots. Saleh also criticized Rodgers' sophisticated pre-snap tactics after the team's 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4, as the coach believed it played a role in the team's numerous false start penalties.

Rodgers downplayed the idea of ​​a rift between him and his coach before the Jets' Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

“I think there's a driving force that's trying to put a wedge (from) outside the facility between Robert and me,” Rodgers told reporters, according to ESPN.

Now the two are officially separated as Saleh heads for the open market while Rodgers will look to turn the Jets around under Ulbrich's leadership.

Robert Saleh's coaching record

Saleh compiled a 20-36 record in his three-plus seasons with the New York Jets. His .357 winning percentage ranked 181st all-time among 201 qualifiers and was only better than that of Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints (26-49, .347) among active coaches.

Below is a year-by-year breakdown of Saleh's record as the Jets' head coach. He did not finish any of his seasons with a winning record.

  • 2021: 4-13
  • 2022: 7-10
  • 2023: 7-10
  • 2024: 2-3 (discharged after week 5)

For anyone wondering, Saleh was under contract with the Jets through the 2025 NFL season. According to Front Office Sports, his contract was worth $5 million per season. This made him, along with Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, the 12th highest paid coach in the NFL heading into the 2024 NFL season.

On By John Fenwick

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