While it may not have shocked Jets fans, the sudden firing of Jets head coach Robert Saleh this past Tuesday raised eyebrows across the league. Jets owner Woody Johnson said it was his decision alone to move on from Saleh, feeling his very talented roster should be stacking a lot more wins than the two they’ve managed through the first five weeks.
There has been a common belief that a new interim coach can get the rest of the team to rally around him and get a better performance out of the players in the first game after a coaching change. And in the short term that might be true.
Since 2010, interim head coaches in the NFL have gone 16-13 in the first game after a coaching change is made.
Defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich was tabbed as the interim head coach for the final 12 games of the regular season. Ulbrich outlined his message to the players after he was appointed interim head coach this week.
“The message was it’s time to lock arms,” said Ulbrich. “We go back-to-back and it’s us against everybody. And with the talent that we have in that room, in my opinion, we have everything we need to be successful and have the season that we know we’re capable of having.”
Ulbrich and the Jets are hoping to end the franchise’s 13-year playoff drought.
In an effort to try to and get a spark on offense, Ulbrich named Passing Game Coordinator, Todd Downing, as their offensive play caller, as he takes play calling duties from offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett. Downing has served as an offensive coordinator before in Oakland (2017) and Tennessee (2021-2022). He also served as Quarterbacks coach of the Bills in 2014.
As for midseason coaching changes, in the Super Bowl era only one NFL club that made a midseason coaching change has reached the playoffs. In 2021, Raiders Special Teams Coordinator, Rich Bisaccia succeeded the ousted Jon Gruden, and qualified for the postseason in Week 18, only to lose in the Wild Card round.
The only other instances in which a team that underwent a midseason coaching change reached the postseason came in 1942 (Chicago Bears), 1952 (L.A. Rams), and 1961 (Houston Oilers – AFL).