Robert Saleh was fired as coach of the New York Jets in a surprise move

Robert Saleh insisted no one was panicking over the New York Jets’ slow start. A day later he was unemployed.

Owner Woody Johnson made the stunning decision Tuesday to fire Saleh five games into his fourth season after the team got off to a 2-3 start following a 23-17 loss to Minnesota on Sunday in London.

“This morning I informed Robert Saleh that he will no longer serve as head coach of the Jets,” Johnson said in a team statement. “I thanked him for his hard work over the last three and a half years and wished him and his family all the best for the future.

“It was not an easy decision, but we are not yet where we should be meeting our expectations. And I think now is the best time for us to go in a different direction.”

Saleh coached from 20 to 36 years for the Jets, who are trying to break the NFL’s longest active playoff drought in 13 seasons. The move marks the first time in Johnson’s 25-year tenure that a head coach has been fired mid-season.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season – with the Jets maintaining expectations of making the playoffs.

“He is a tough coach who has the respect of the coaches and players on this team,” Johnson said. “I believe that, together with the coaches on this team, he can bring out the best in our talented team and achieve the goals we set for ourselves this offseason.”

The surprise move came a day after Saleh said he was confident Aaron Rodgers and the Jets could turn things around after two straight losses, including to unbeaten Minnesota. Rodgers had his worst game against New York when he threw three interceptions.

“There is so much football to play,” Saleh said Monday. “There are so many things we can get better at and there are so many things we can continue to build on, the things we do well.”

“So I’m not panicking. No one in the building is panicking.”

But apparently Johnson had seen enough of Saleh, who became the NFL’s first coach to be fired this season. Saleh, who had one year left on his contract, had the worst winning percentage of any Jets coach with at least 40 games, at .357.

It is the 12th time since 2000 that a team has changed coaches in just five games or fewer in a season, six of them in the last six seasons. Matt Rhule was the latest to be released by Carolina after five games in 2022.

The Jets face the Buffalo Bills (3-2) on Monday night, where they have a chance to share the AFC East lead with a win. But instead of Saleh, 47-year-old Ulbrich will lead the team on the sidelines.

Ulbrich, who played linebacker with San Francisco for 10 seasons, joined the Jets in 2021 as part of Saleh’s first team. Ulbrich was an assistant at Atlanta for six seasons before coming to New York.

Saleh replaced the fired Adam Gase in January 2021 after the Jets went 9-23 during his tenure. New York was targeting the energetic and well-respected Saleh, who was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator for four seasons and led a group that was drafted No. 2 overall and helped San Francisco reach the Super Bowl for the 2019 season.

Saleh, the son of Lebanese parents, was considered the first Muslim head coach in NFL history when the Jets hired him. Saleh wore a Lebanese flag patch on his left arm during Sunday’s game in London, something he also did at times last season. The NFL encouraged players and coaches to represent their heritage.

Saleh’s tenure began with a major decision as he and his general manager traded from quarterback Sam Darnold – the No. 3 overall pick in 2018 – to Zach Wilson, the second overall pick in 2021.

While Saleh and Ulbrich’s defense was a strength for the Jets, Wilson and the offense struggled greatly. Quarterback instability was a theme that prevailed during Saleh’s tenure in New York.

The Jets traded for Rodgers in April 2023, adding the four-time NFL MVP to a franchise looking for a winner. But last season there was a short circuit when Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon four times on his debut.

New York finished with a record of 7-10 and while Johnson wouldn’t explicitly say there was a playoff mandate this season, the owner made it clear he needed to see significant improvement from the team, saying: ” We have to do a lot better than seven games.”

Rodgers recovered and was ready for the season opener, but he has been banged up the last two weeks and is dealing with an ankle sprain that hampered him during the Jets’ loss to Darnold and the Vikings. Saleh said Monday that preliminary testing suggested Rodgers should be able to play against the Bills.

But now Saleh will only be a spectator.

There have been questions about his relationship with the 40-year-old Rodgers, but both have denied any friction, as recently as last week in London, when the quarterback said “there is a driving force that is trying to create a wedge between the two.”

“We’re really good friends,” Rodgers said. “We enjoy each other. We spend time in his office almost every day, talking about things and talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team and what we need to get done, how I can help him, how he can help me. So we have a great relationship.”

The Jets will now attempt to become the third team to make the playoffs with an interim coach at the helm, hoping to join the 2021 Raiders with Rich Bisaccia and the 1961 Oilers with Wally Lemm.