The Jets fired Robert Saleh on Tuesday, five games into a season that was supposed to be one of redemption for the Jets but has seen them sit at 2-3 after two straight losses, one in a rainy slog in New Jersey and the other in London on Sunday.
Willie Colon played for the first three teams of the John Idzik era, which saw Rex Ryan fired after a 4-12 2014 season and replaced by Todd Bowles, so he knows what turmoil looks like…and this is that.
“I have to say I’m shocked…I don’t think anyone saw this coming, not even Robert Saleh saw this coming. I mean, we didn’t even get to the bye,” Colon told BT & Sal. “Even Adam Gase made it through the season, and he was a dumpster fire. Robert Saleh the human being is a great guy, but from a coaching standpoint…they’re a Top 10 defense, but offensively, they’re not good. They look stagnant, and this with Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson and two stud backs. So the question is, what does firing Robert Saleh do to spark this offense, and I don’t think anyone has that answer.”
If anyone was going to be the fall guy for that, Colon thought it would be OC Nathaniel Hackett, who was Rodgers’ guy…but maybe, BT intimated, Rodgers and Hackett’s bond was more powerful than a boss?
“The fact that Hackett has a job and Saleh doesn’t is a wild moment. I get (he’s Rodgers’ guy) but at the end of the day, Woody Johnson talked about expectations, and no one expected the Jets to look like they do,” Colon said. “Being friends with a guy shouldn’t hold your position, given Hackett’s inability to scheme to his players, especially when you have your guy in Rodgers and everything you technically need – and what’s even more troubling is this is the second week in a row Aaron Rodgers limped off the field. He’s 40 years old, and against the Broncos he threw the ball 42 times, and it was 50-plus against Minnesota. You gotta get in your wheelhouse and figure out how to protect your guy, because right now, I don’t know how he’s going to make it through the season.”
Part of what BT wondered about the firing, and the elevation of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to the head coaching spot, is whether or not Saleh, as a defensive guy, simply had trouble connecting with how to help run an offense, and whether Ulbrich will suffer the same fate.
The last two games where they threw almost 100 times in rainy conditions was Brandon’s main example, and that also showed the problem in Colon’s mind.
“I think there was a power struggle, and I think Saleh was letting Rodgers and Hackett do what they wanted to do, and he would worry about his guys (on defense),” Colon said. “That happened to me when I had Rex Ryan as head coach and Marty Mornhinweg as my OC, and when things weren’t working, it ultimately fell on Rex’s head. Right now, the Jets with Aaron Rodgers don’t have an offensive identity. They were supposed to be contenders on paper, and they’re not rising. You can talk about missed plays, but it’s not about that – it’s about the inconsistency. Teams are loading the box to stop the run, but they brought Aaron Rodgers in to cover deficiencies in the offense. From a schematic standpoint, they’re not doing enough and their vanilla schemes are getting pounded to the dirt.”
But, he says, he doesn’t think Saleh lost his players all to get fired mid-season, but this was simply the final result of a team that has been 20-36 in his four-year tenure, and was not as good as they were supposed to be in the last five weeks, especially on offense.
“It’s like what changes need to be made? It’s got to fall on someone’s shoulders, and it always falls on the head coach,” Colon said. “I don’t think he lost the locker room, I think they still listen to him and respect him, but it has to do with the lack of production. They’re 2-3 and don’t have an offensive identity, and the lead horse in Aaron Rodgers isn’t showing the ability that made him a four-time MVP. Something had to be done, and Woody is doing it. They were a 7-10 team without Rodgers, they should be better with him."
Listen to Colon’s entire visit above!