The big news across the NFL on Tuesday is the New York Jets’ decision to fire Robert Saleh after he had been their head coach for three seasons and change.
Prior to being hired by New York for the 2021 season, he had spent four seasons as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator under head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Shanahan admitted that he was “pretty shocked” by the Jets giving Saleh the axe, per 95.7 The Game.
“Yeah I was pretty shocked,” Shanahan said.
Kyle Shanahan on the firing of Robert Saleh: “Yeah I was pretty shocked.” pic.twitter.com/8rNVy6SxWo
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 8, 2024
Saleh had previously spent many years as an assistant for the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars before the Niners hired him prior to the 2017 campaign.
As the Niners brought in talent on the defensive side of the football, Saleh made them into an elite defensive team, which was good enough to get them to the brink of winning the Super Bowl championship during the 2019 season.
Once he was fired on Tuesday, there was instant speculation about whether he may return to his prior post in San Francisco, but it looks like that won’t be happening.
The latest on Robert Saleh and what his plans for the rest of the season are according to @MikeSilver 👀#49ers || #FTTB pic.twitter.com/q7tbcy2OTu
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) October 8, 2024
There has also been speculation that Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers orchestrated Saleh’s firing, although there is no concrete evidence to support that rumor, at least not right now.
New York is 2-3, and while it could be argued that a couple of plays going the other way could’ve resulted in them being at least 3-2 right now, its offense is clearly struggling.
Rodgers simply isn’t the player he was just three or four years ago, and running back Breece Hall, who was thought to be a rising star, is averaging a weak 3.0 yards per carry through five games.
