The Jets were 2-3 at the start of this week, and a win away from being at the top of the AFC East, which is why Tuesday’s firing of head coach Robert Saleh came as a major surprise.
And as more rumors and reports have surfaced, it feels like scapegoating by a franchise that some feel is going backward.
Before Saleh arrived in 2021, the franchise had been an example of futility and poor management. In the 20 previous years, the team had only six winning seasons, the last coming under former head coach Todd Bowles in 2015, when he led the team to a 10-6 record in his first season.
After former GM Mike Maccagnan ruined the team’s chances for future success by releasing a slew of veterans in 2016 and making a few bad draft decisions, Bowles had no chance of survival and was fired after the 2018 season.
Adam Gase was hired next but was fired after two losing seasons (7-9, 2-14) and poor overall coaching and leadership.
So Saleh, who molded the 49ers into a defensive powerhouse, walked into a 2-14 locker room suffering from poor morale and slim hopes.
In his first season, Saleh went 4-12, another disappointing season highlighted by the poor play of rookie QB Zach Wilson.
But the Jets’ 2022 Draft gave long-suffering fans real hope when the team drafted Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, young players who all made an immediate impact. That year, despite the lackluster production and growth of Wilson, the Jets finished 7-10.
Then came the big/bad move (depending on your viewpoint) in 2023, when the team acquired future Hall of Fame QB, Aaron Rodgers. He was supposed to be the team’s savior, giving Jets fans new hope for success.
But those hopes died a few minutes into the first game of the 2023 season when Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon, after which the team turned back to Wilson, who threw for 2,271 yards, 8 TDs and 7 INTs in 12 games.
Yet Saleh still led the Jets to a 7-10 finish.
This year a healthy Rodgers and a stout defense renewed the hopes of Jets fans, but once again, those hopes dissipated after a 2-3 start.
A day after the team returned home from a loss in London to the Vikings, team owner Woody Johnson fired Saleh.
