The Jets’ stunning decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh has Bill Belichick confused.
Belichick described the Jets’ dismissal of their fourth-year head coach as “a little bit puzzling” during an appearance on “A Coach’s Perspective.”
“It is what it is,” Belichick said. “Everybody has to move forward. It’s the owner’s prerogative to make that decision, and clearly that’s what he decided to do. But there have been a lot of things that have been kind of confusing. It hasn’t been a great situation for the Jets this year. You can kind of feel there’s been kind of a chill.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson previously told reporters he made the decision to fire Saleh.
Saleh was fired after just five games in 2024, suffering a pair of devastating losses to the Broncos at home and Vikings in London following a 2-1 start.
The Post’s Brian Costello reported that it was the 10-9 loss to Denver that set Johnson off and he was not appeased when Saleh called for patience.
One week and one loss later, Saleh was the one who paid the price.
Belichick previously has had a dicey relationship with the Jets, shockingly resigning from the team after accepting its head coaching gig in 2000.
He wrote his resignation letter on a napkin, citing uncertainty with ownership as a primary reason for his departure just days after agreeing to run the team.
Belichick continued describing the issues with Saleh as the coach and pointing to the offensive line and franchise instability as the primary culprit of the Jets’ struggles.
“There had been some issues on the offensive line; it didn’t really work out with [Mekhi] Becton. A couple of tackles; we’ll see how that works out. Just not a lot of protection, and certainly [Aaron] Rodgers had a tough day out there in London this weekend,” Belichick said.
“They’ve overall played pretty good defense over the last few years like that’s been a pretty solid group, but the rest of the organization, just some of the appearance of dysfunctionality, has been tough, and that’s the ownership, that’s personnel, that’s coaching. Where exactly that falls I’m not sure, but it just hasn’t looked good.”
Saleh’s replacement is defensive coordinator and former player Jeff Ulbrich.
Offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett was also stripped of play-calling duties in favor of Todd Downing but will stay with the team.
Follow the latest on the New York Jets firing head coach Robert Saleh:
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- Woody Johnson: Why I fired Robert Saleh as Jets coach
- Fans, pundits believe Aaron Rodgers was behind Robert Saleh’s Jets firing
Belichick tormented the Jets while on the Patriots’ sideline, going 34-10 against them from 2000-21.
He is currently looking for his next head coaching gig after departing from New England last season, although, the Jets are not expected to be in the running for his services given the sordid history.