Some interesting parts:
“Hackett struggled to adjust the offense to the team’s new reality. Multiple coaches and players described Hackett as lacking in attention to detail. For most of the season, Hackett would meet with offensive line coach/running game coordinator Keith Carter and passing game coordinator Todd Downing during the week but wouldn’t get together with the rest of the offensive staff until the “last minute” of game prep.”
“But behind closed doors, the vibes weren’t always positive, especially when Saleh would see negative press reports. He would often bring up how, in his mind, the Giants don’t get as much negative coverage as the Jets, calling it unfair.
In the aftermath of Rodgers’ injury, Saleh bemoaned his bad luck. Throughout his tenure, he has often wondered aloud if he was doomed to the same fate as Vic Fangio, a brilliant defensive coach cursed by misfortune at quarterback”
“Woody Johnson is known around the building for being active on Twitter, consuming criticism from fans and media alike. According to team sources, Johnson often shared those opinions with Saleh in conversations about what wasn’t working on offense. Publicly, Saleh avoided criticizing Zach Wilson or even acknowledging his struggles. Privately, the coach pinned many of the team’s offensive issues on Wilson, the line and the receivers and told people getting to eight wins with Wilson at quarterback would be a “miracle.”
50 comments
Non Paywall version
https://archive.ph/2024.01.31-101428/https://theathletic.com/5238599/2024/01/31/jets-aaron-rodgers-robert-saleh-season-collapse/
If anyone comes away remotely confident in the direction of this franchise after reading it, you need a serious psych eval.
Pathetic franchise. Whole thing should have been tossed in the trash on January 8.
Before I totally lash out in frustration at all directions, how we know this is based in total fact? Because if so, this is fucking alarming.
The solution was to tell Aaron Rodgers we are changing out the GM/Coach/Coordinators we want you to stay but it won’t be with this regime. Woody has zero balls and that’s why this franchise is always in the shape it’s in.
So everyone hates Zach Wilson but they did nothing to replace him when Rodgers went down…
Man, this might be the earliest month that I’m looking towards the next draft, and we haven’t even gotten to the 2024 one yet.
Dogshit franchise and the only constant in the decade+ of misery has been ownership.
If this is true, maybe the Zach Truthers who come here to defend that incompetent waste of a draft pick will read this and think “Hmmmm… Saleh is a HC and has a lifetime of football experience and thinks Zach sucks. Maybe we were wrong about him?”
gOoD ViBeS oNLy
Yes we know we don’t have a very good owner. But this is such a hack job. Let’s keep writing about the Jets to just bury them more because….we have no other quality content and it’s the lowest hanging fruit. Our qb got hurt 4 plays in, we thought our line was better than it was and injuries made it even worse. That’s not sexy but that’s the truth. Oh and while I’m not happy, the team did win 7 games with a Star Wars cantina of QBs. Give me a break this is not rocket science. My advice to jets fans is this. We have a shitty owner, it sucks because every good organization starts at the top. He isn’t selling the team so either try and root for this team or don’t. But don’t let the slap dicks who cover this team and love to pore salt in the wound because they are frustrated they are on this beat get you worked up. (Manish, Hughes, cimini, rosenblatt). Because there is no doubt in my mind all these miserable pricks have a major agenda.
Saleh complaining that he’s going to be “cursed” like Vic Fangio just shows how bad of a HC he is. He takes zero responsibility for the offensive side of the team.
He’s a great DC and has hired a great defensive staff but you can’t be completely hands off on 50% of the team as a HC particularly when you make terrible hires for your offensive coaching staff.
Joe Douglas is is a primary source for this, zach too.
The jets won 7 games this year. You can argue if they make one play vs the pats, falcons and raiders they would be 10-7 are in the playoffs but can also that they were a 3 win team if one play goes against them vs the bills, eagles, giants and commanders. The defense was mostly healthy all year but the offense particularly the oline was in injury hell. Let’s pray that we get some positive luck this year.
So much troubling in this article, but this passage really stood out to me. Saleh comes across as such a fucking worm. As bad as Zach has been he deserves a better environment than this.
“Publicly, Saleh avoided criticizing Zach Wilson or even acknowledging his struggles. Privately, the coach pinned many of the team’s offensive issues on Wilson, the line and the receivers and told people getting to eight wins with Wilson at quarterback would be a “miracle.”
When the Jets lost to the Dolphins in Week 12, dropping their record to 4-7, noise about Saleh’s job security intensified. It didn’t help that Boyle threw a Hail Mary just before halftime that was picked off by defensive back Jevon Holland and returned 99 yards for a touchdown.
In the days after, an embittered Saleh conducted research. He wanted to see how teams led by the NFL’s best coaches performed when playing without their star quarterback. He found that Bill Belichick, Mike McCarthy, John Harbaugh, Zac Taylor, Mike McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay all had losing records in those situations — and that Mike Tomlin was the lone exception.
That became Saleh’s battle cry as the Jets’ losses piled up and criticism mounted: What do you expect? We lost Aaron Rodgers.”
This team is a circus
Man i wish someone leaked the beans about jd.
Least likeable version of this team i’ve experienced in the drought
“Things went sideways for Saleh after the report about Wilson’s reluctance to return to the lineup.
“That’s a problem with the organization,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “We need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately, because there’s no place in a winning culture … and this isn’t the only time. There’s been a bunch of other leaks.”
That sent Saleh into a tailspin. The coach held a meeting with his staff two days later where he asked the leaker to reveal himself, according to multiple people in attendance. “If you come forward now, you won’t get in trouble,” he told them while threatening to take their cell phones. Staffers were bemused by Saleh’s obsession with the Wilson story and his reaction to it.”
Of all the jaw dropping revelations in this article, this a shocking indictment against Saleh’s leadership abilities. Horrendous. He has absolutely no direction.
Every person who spent the last season and a half defending this regime deserves to be tarred and feathered. There is no coming back from this, just take the L and move on. These aren’t the New York Joe Douglases or Salehs, you can love the Jets while being completely out on the current HC and GM.
I can’t do this anymore. It’s baseball season
This article is fucking damning. This coaching staff has gone tits up, it’s time to clean house and bring in some competent faces.
If Rodgers doesn’t like it, don’t let the door knob hit you on the way out. If we’re going to waste next season anyway, I’d rather do so while acclimating to a new coach/scheme.
“During games, Hackett struggled to make adjustments. Against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, Carter asked Hackett to give left tackle Duane Brown more help blocking Cowboys star pass rusher Micah Parsons, according to multiple team sources. But Hackett never adjusted, and Parsons dominated (two sacks, four QB hits) in a 30-10 loss.”
Fire 👏this 👏loser 👏
And btw, Sean Payton was absolutely right. Rodgers likes Hackett because he doesn’t want a coach up his ass, he wants to be the coach on the field.
I for one am optimistic. I can now go into next year and enjoy the football season with zero expectations of the jets. Back to normal
So hackett was struggling to adjust the offense and other coaches and players were criticizing him for lack of attention to details and yet were keeping him. What the fuck is this team doing anymore, why are we rewarding this shit. No wonder why sean peyton came after hackett for being one of the worst coaches, he was actually right about this. And im sure hes a nice guy but hes not helping this team overall.
Saleh is a fucking baby, wow. No accountability whatsoever. From the whining about being an expansion team that isn’t true at all to clearly giving up before almost immediately it seems.
He is not the guy. This team sucks, the entire organization. No way guys like Garrett and breece take a second contract.
So much to unpack here, so here’s the tidbit that cracked me up:
> Wilson told coaches and teammates he was under the impression he’d have a direct line to Rodgers, even after Rodgers tore his Achilles and flew home to California for surgery in the early stages of his rehab. Instead, Wilson barely heard from him.
Absolutely fucking hilarious that people believed Rodgers is here for anything other than himself. The Zach mentorship was lip service for fans to lap up from the start. Having it be confirmed is the cherry on top
This is one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever read about a sports team in general, and of course it’s the Jets. I said Saleh should have been gone after the fucking Raiders game and got crushed on this stupid fucking sub. I’m telling you now, if they don’t clean house after this season, which will be a bad one once again, watch all of our stars refuse 2nd contracts and free agents avoid us like the plague.
LOVE our owner sourcing suggestions from the public for our head coach.
Next coach needs to have their own vision for both sides of the ball even if they don’t explicitly lead that side.
For as damning as the article sounds, how much of what Saleh allegedly said is wrong?
“It would a miracle to get to 8 wins with Zach”
✅ FACT
“The season was over the moment Rodgers went down”
✅ FACT
My biggest issue from all of this stems from Hackett being completely useless and how Saleh has clearly been affected by three years of consistent losing football.
He needs to recognize that as the head coach of a team, he CAN’T ALLOW HIMSELF TO SHOW THE SCARS. Your players are giving their all on the field everyday, including Zach! Having a defeatist attitude won’t inspire anyone.
But again…the dude is only human. I’m not going to overreact to this article since 60% of it is just common sense that we all could’ve predicted. Next year is the only year that matters now for this regime.
Either win or get the fuck out of the building. Spare me the drama, I’ve had enough of it for a lifetime. Go Jets 🫡
Taking some of this with a grain of salt because The Athletic clearly has an axe to grind with the Jets/Rodgers after both of them railed against the Wilson refusing to play article.
No mention of the front office? Hmmm. Maybe a hint as to where some of these leaks are coming from.
I think the “Rodgers wasn’t there for Zach” thing is bullshit. As is this notion that Rodgers is too involved in the offense. Again, every HOF QB has a significant amount of say in how it’s run. They also have “their guys” that they’ll bring in from their past teams. Rodgers is wildly disliked by journos, I have no reason to believe they’ll be fair while covering him.
That being said…Hackett is incompetent and needs demoting at the least. And Saleh’s insecurity is believable based off his constant excuse making. Good coaches find a way to win, if he wants to argue otherwise he can hit the fucking bricks and we’ll hire someone with real confidence. But we didn’t need an Athletic article to tell us this did we?
The only thing this tells me is Woody Johnson is the issue. I don’t see how this was any different before Saleh, or before Gase, or Before Bowles. Except for the first two Rex years we have been caught in this dysfunctional cycle. We have changed out coaches, scouts, GMs and nothing changes. The only common denominator is Woody Johnson
​
Edit: Sorry bot
We deserve to be laughed at and get the negative coverage from the media. We have been perpetual losers for the last fucking decade. Instead of complaining about the shit, how about we make a change, but that would actually require the jets to become somewhat of a competent franchise.
What a shit show 😵💫
Assuming this is true Saleh needs to go. He is not a leader of men.
> Privately, the coach pinned many of the team’s offensive issues on Wilson, the line and the receivers
So, the whole offense other than Breece.
Totally coming in as an outsider living in NJ/NYC.
All of this circles around Aaron and it gives me RG3 esque vibes when I lived in DC (look up the stories of how much influence he had)
Aaron got on his soap box this year without having his play back it up and the media “kept the receipts” and it’s clear that Russini won’t back down from Rodgers and how he reacts wil be interesting. I will also say no competent QB was signed because I honestly think Aaron didn’t want someone usurping his attempt at saving the Jets. Neoptism. Favoritism.
All these leaks show that there’s still disgruntled coaches and players and unless they win a lot and often. This is gonna linger.
Sad to see it from you guys. Hope you guys get someone who can emulate 2009-2010
Maybe the scariest thing to me is that the coaching staff had to have Woody sign off on giving playing time to younger players. Woody shouldn’t be signing off anything on field related. Woody doesn’t know fuck all about football. This is our biggest issue and isn’t going away no matter who the coach or GM is.
So everything we already knew.
This is where Woddy dropped the ball…any inkling that Harbaugh was leaving…you give him the keys to the building. You failed this fanbase Woody. All because of Rodgers.
Saleh could not be more distant from Campbell. Instead of figuring out a way to maximize the QB position, he writes about excuses. Then saying one thing in public, something else behind closed doors. Fake af!
Fucking Yikes. Im a big defensive HC guy as long as you have a SOLID, mature, stand alone offensive guy as our OC. IE needs to be a guy slated for a HC job in the next 1 to 2 years.
Saleh pinning offensive struggles on Wilson is sad if true. You know what i pin our struggles on? The fact that we kept trying to make him throw the ball 30 times a game despite his struggles. The fact we didnt get him moving out the pocket more.
I get it, wilson has his struggles, but its not like week after week we saw different offensive schemes to kind of get his “fit”
I put this at the OC’s feet full stop. Saleh really needs to take a page out of sexy rexy’s book and say fuck it with controlling the offence and go pay a prominent OC who is looking to have their own team soon.
Not dudes that failed at having their own teams already
Nothing screams head coach material like a guy that obsesses over…checks notes…how the other team is not being shit on as much as your disfunctional hot garbage org
Saleh, Wilson, Douglas… somebody here is in line for a great book deal.
Let’s all enjoy Garrett and Sauce while we can. No players of their caliber would ever want to spend any minute longer than necessary on a team like this.
Saleh really is a used car salesman. Imagine being a player watching the team collapse, again, and your supposed leader is openly sulking about “luck”.like it isn’t the head coaches responsibility to adapt and not start Zach for 12+ weeks.
What else can you say? Is it any wonder this team has no culture under? Actually that’s wrong. There is a culture: a culture of mediocrity and refusing to make adjustments at every level.
Hackett comes off like a moron and every knows he’s a moron and he’s actively being layered.
Saleh is an insecure and paranoid asshole.
Woody is just a frat boy who spends too much time on social media.
An embarrasment of a franchise.
🔥🥗
I don’t understand why Saleh is still here. Coaches get fired for much less.
You know, I don’t realize that the Jets season collapsed on 9/11. How appropriate.
this article sucks. not a huge fan of Saleh either, but im not taking Russini and Blatt’s word on this..
entire article oozes bias towards the hate Russini and Blatt got for their reporting and provides nothing beyond their anonymous sources from before..
everything in this article is unsourced gossip
Wow. Wow. Wow.
This is one of the most damning pieces I’ve ever read about the Jets in 30+ years of being a fan. Dozens of sources are not all lying. This isn’t a Cimini troll article bringing up a certain fumble – this is a well-researched evisceration of our pathetic franchise.
I wanted to believe in Saleh, but clearly he’s a huge pussy complaining about bad luck and worrying about job security. Hackett? How in the good living FUCK is he not gone?
I didn’t think it was possible, but I actually feel bad for Zach Wilson. I don’t blame him at all for not wanting to play. I don’t blame any of our offensive stars for shitting on the coaches and scheme, and I don’t blame any of our defensive stars for being pissed off.
We are FUCKED in 2024. Everyone will be gone, our stars will be traded, and we’ll find a new low while other teams rebuild immediately.