Gio still doesn’t think Rob Saleh was a great head coach, but ‘he deserved a hell of a lot more credit for that defense than I ever gave him, because they have fallen completely apart without him here.”
And that’s not Jeff Ulbrich’s fault, in Boomer’s eyes, because he’s in an untenable situation where he’s coaching a QB he played against on a unit he knows less about as a ex-defensive player and coordinator.
“He wasn't qualified to do it and was put in a situation he didn't belong in, and he's drowning in front of us. It's just like watching a pig on a spit just get roasted,” Gio said. “Every press conference, it’s like he doesn't know what the hell to say. Half the time he sounds like he's gonna cry, he’s quivering in his voice. He wants no part of this, but he’s stuck here in this Jets Hel. Everybody gets caught up in it, no matter who you are, outside of Rex Ryan and the run that they had.”
Boomer also invoked Bill Parcells, and that led the guys to realize that the only two coaches to have real success with the Jets over the last 50 years or so have been big, bombastic personalities like Rex and Parcells.
Is that what they need going forward, as opposed to a guy like Saleh who was as even-keeled as they come?
“Two coaching personalities that came in and took over the franchise,” Boomer said.
“That’s the move they're gonna have to go to, but they'll probably hire like, the special teams coordinator for the Cardinals, who will come in here and say, ‘I’ll change this thing around,’” Gio said in a mocking voice. “No, you're not, you're gonna be gone in two years, loser. Oh, let’s see, let’s get the assistant GM from the Commanders because they drafted Jayden Daniels…no shot! You’re gonna be fired in two years, you have no chance.”
Boomer asked Gio if there was anyone they COULD hire that would make him happy, and he doubled down on the two guys he has long stumped for.
“I’ve been saying it for the longest time, I think two guys that make sense to me are Jon Gruden and Brian Flores. Why? Because they both have lawsuits against the NFL, so it’s gonna be hard for them to get hired anywhere else!” Gio laughed. “But all kidding aside, those two guys have the personality. Flores, the argument is a valid one that Tua hated his guts, but I do think that you can get a guy off a situation like that who learned a lot from it, and now his players love him in Minnesota. He’d be a guy I’d consider, but Gruden’s the No. 1 guy; he’d be the only type of personality that could do it. Maybe it would fail, too, but he’s all about football and would take control of the whole thing.”
You might not get either of them because the Jets are so pathetic, or so Gio said in not so many words and then in so many words, but hey, if the Knicks can get it right in this market…
“They somehow got Bill Parcells here, they somehow got Rex Ryan here, so they do have a track record of having a successful run,” Boomer said. “You have to have someone who has a level of credibility that when they walk in the room, everyone sits up straight and pays attention, and everyone’s on notice.”
“But instead they'll bring in the passing coordinator from the Texans; like that'll be the guy you get, and you can't do it unless you wanna go another five years of being a laughingstock,” Gio replied. “You gotta make a big hire here. It has to be someone like we’ve been talking about, not another coordinator who knows nothing about New York or has never been a head coach. It takes a special person to drag you out of this – not even Aaron Rodgers could do it!”