Michele Tafoya and Robert Saleh (Photos via Getty Images)
Former NFL NBC “Sunday Night Football” reporter Michele Tafoya has a fascinating theory as to why the New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh.
In a stunning move, the Jets announced on Tuesday that they relieved Robert Saleh from his coaching duties. The move came just two days after the Jets lost a close 23-17 contest to the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings, and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named the interim HC.
During an appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” podcast, Tafoya opined that the Jets fired Saleh to “shift blame” away from struggling veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“But the Jets are looking to shake things up. Obviously, this has been an incredibly disappointing start for the entire team. A lot of people want to point the finger at Aaron, maybe this is a way to shift blame. I don’t know, this is fascinating to me.”
There is speculation that Rodgers played a hand in the firing of Robert Saleh. The four-time league MVP developed a reputation as a “coach killer” after Mike McCarthy was fired by the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
But during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” today, Rodgers denied rumors that he pushed for Saleh’s firing, calling them “patently false.”
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Robert Saleh’s firing was largely surprising because teams in playoff contention rarely make a midseason coaching change. Usually, a coach is fired during the season if his team is at or near the bottom of the standings and out of the playoff race.
At 2-3, the Jets are far from finished. They’ve played a difficult schedule and could claw back into first place in the AFC East with a victory over the Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football” next week.
Robert Saleh Never Got A Fair Shot With The Jets
Saleh’s first two seasons as the Jets head coach (2021 to 2022) were rebuilding years with minimal expectations. It’s not Saleh’s fault that the Jets failed to provide him with an adequate backup QB plan after Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week 1 vs. the Bills last year.
Saleh finally had a competent quarterback this year with a healthy Rodgers, and yet it only took five games for him to get fired. If the Jets don’t end up making the playoffs this year, that will say more about the organization as a whole than Saleh’s performance as a coach.
Former New York Jets Star Player Posts Then Quickly Deletes Savage Meme After HC Robert Saleh Was Fired, And It Tells Us Everything We Need To Know
Robert Saleh (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh has been fired after five games.
Saleh was 20-36 as the Jets coach five games into his fourth season on the job.
The New York Jets entered the 2024 season with Super Bowl aspirations as quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned from a season-ending injury in 2023.
Unfortunately, the team has not only been playing below standards, but they don’t even look like a team that will qualify for the playoffs.
Not everybody was sad about the firing of Robert Saleh.
Former New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton took to his X account and posted a viral picture of a man who said years ago that he showed up to his biggest hater’s funeral to ensure that he was indeed dead.
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The current Eagles star quickly deleted the post.
During his time as head coach, Robert Saleh cycled through six different starting quarterbacks:
Zach Wilson: 33 games
Mike White: 7 games
Aaron Rodgers: 6 games
Joe Flacco: 5 games
Trevor Siemian: 3 games
Tim Boyle: 2 games
Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is reportedly being named the interim head coach.
Aaron Rodgers Pushing Robert Saleh Now Speaks Volumes
The New York Jets have fired coach Robert Saleh after starting the season 2-3, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Robert Saleh appeared to try to give Aaron Rodgers a hug after the Jets’ second TD on “Thursday Night Football” earlier this year.
However, it appeared that Rodgers was not happy about it, so he pushed him away.
At the time, Robert Saleh stated, “Part of the things we’ve been talking about is to just give the defense a two-score lead,” Saleh said. “And it was a two-score lead.
“I guess he just wanted to see something on defense,” Saleh added, with a laugh. “He just reminded me that, you know, it was a two-score lead.”
Rodgers confirmed the two-score lead was the subject of the exchange while adding, “He’s not a big hugger,” Rodgers told reporters. “I didn’t know he was going for a hug.”
Two weeks later, and Saleh is now fired.
