Robert Saleh quite obviously entered the 2024 NFL season on the hot seat. Tuesday morning, the New York Jets hit his eject button.
Following a disappointing 2-3 start — and what appeared to be ongoing friction with superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers — team owner Woody Johnson had seen enough, and Saleh became the first head coach in the league fired this season.
"This morning, I informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets," Johnson said in a statement . "I thanked him for his hard work these past three-and-a-half years and wished him and his family well moving forward. This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations, and I believe now is the best time for us to move in a different direction.
"(Defensive coordinator) Jeff Ulbrich will serve as our Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team. I believe he along with the coaches on this staff can get the most out of our talented team and attain the goals we established this offseason."
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Thus ends another disappointing tenure for an NYJ coach, Saleh finishing with a 20-36 record in three-plus seasons.
Despite consistently good defenses, the bread and butter for a longtime assistant and coordinator, Saleh's tenure was undone by consistent quarterback issues – first Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick of the 2021 NFL draft who was a near total bust, and Rodgers. The four-time MVP kindled long-awaited Super Bowl hopes for the franchise upon being acquired in 2023, but last year's Achilles injury and this season's turbulent start was apparently too much for Johnson, who said during the offseason that he expected major results in 2024, to bear.
“We have all this talent, and we have to deploy talent properly. … This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year,” Johnson said in February during Super Bowl week, following Saleh's second consecutive 7-10 campaign.
“We have to do a lot better than seven (victories), definitely.”
The Jets haven't won more than seven games since 2015, when they went 10-6. They last reached the playoffs in 2010, their current 13-season drought the longest active one in the NFL. Their only Super Bowl appearance occurred following the 1968 season, when the upstart AFL team, led by brash quarterback Joe Namath, shocked the NFL's heavily favored Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl 3, still widely considered as one of the most important games in the history of pro football.
(This story has been updated to include new information.)
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York Jets fire head coach Robert Saleh after 2-3 start to season
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