THE New York Jets made the surprise decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh after five games in the season, but it truly feels like star quarterback Aaron Rodgers played a role in the move.
New York will have plenty of head coaching options next offseason, and who better to lead a potential win-now squad than the iconic Bill Belichick?
The Jets have lost two straight games and sit at 2-3 after having their eyes set on being a playoff-contending team with a healthy Rodgers.
Saleh left New York with a miserable 20-36 record, and tension with the media, and even Rodgers, has been apparent.
After the Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos, the 45-year-old Saleh seemed to pin false starts on Rodgers’ cadence.
The veteran signal-caller disagreed with his coach’s stance, believing that he should “hold players accountable.”
The pair have since dismissed a rift between one another, but the fact that Saleh has lost his job after five weeks of NFL plays speaks volumes from a timing perspective.
So who’s calling the shots?
Sure, it’s owner Woody Johnson, who announced defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the campaign.
But ever since Rodgers landed in New York, the four-time MVP has had the say in the team hiring offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and adding his numerous former Green Bay Packers teammates, including Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Tim Boyle.
The Jets could also trade for Rodgers’ ex-Packers teammate, buddy, and disgruntled Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro wideout Davante Adams.
Rodgers likely OK’d the move to fire Saleh along with general manager Joe Douglas.
It’s also telling the squad didn’t fire Hackett, who was Rodgers’ offensive coordinator in Green Bay from 2019 to 2021 and has coach one of the worst offenses in the league.
New York will play the year out with Ulbrich who’s highly respected by his players and has played a role in the team’s stellar play on defense.
After the 2024 season, the Jets will likely look to add a head coach of the veteran variety if they want to contend in 2025, and Belichick should be the man for the job.
Sure, Belichick has an interesting past with New York.
He was the 12th head coach of the Jets for a day in 2000 before resigning as he was soon as he was introduced to replace Bill Parcells.
Belichick then took the rival New England Patriots vacant head coaching job and won six Super Bowl rings with the organization.
He parted ways with owner Robert Kraft and the Patriots in January after 23 seasons with the organization.
Belichick is currently working for numerous media companies, among them ESPN, as an NFL analyst.
But once the campaign ends, the 72-year-old could have the itch to return to the sidelines – and the Jets haven’t seemed to hold a grudge against the future Hall of Fame legend.
It will be just a matter of what Belichick wants.
If New York goes on a run and makes the playoffs, regardless of the outcome, the squad could be an intriguing situation.
But at the end of the day, the Jets haven’t made the postseason since 2011 and reek of dysfunction – and Belichick knows all too well about that aspect after facing them for over two decades.
Belichick’s culture-building worked in New England, but fans of Gang Green shouldn’t get their hopes up on a Belichick “reunion.”
