BREAKING: On Thursday January 14th, 2021 the New York Jets hired 49ers defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh to be their head coach. He has brought alongside him 49ers passing game coordinator, Mike LaFleur to be his offensive coordinator (interview pending). This is the hire that’ll change and shape our organization for the years to come. In his tenure at San Francisco, he led them to have greatness. In 2019, he got his big break and led the 49ers to have the 8th ranked defense in the league. That defense carried the Niners to the SB to face the eventual SB Champions, KC Chiefs. This year, the 49ers had insane injuries happen, Nick Bosa was out for the year in Week 3. They had ugly and unexpected injuries occur early and late in the season. However, they finished 17th in league defense (nice), 5th in yards allowed (elite), 4th in passing yards allowed (elite), 7th in rushing yards allowed (great), and 17th in points allowed (nice). I talked all about Robert Saleh and his football life here.
This was a very scary time for Jets fans because he spent HOURS and slept overnight at Florham Park (Jets Facility), with the Jets Owner and General Manager in his second interview (he was a finalist for the job). Then, they allowed him to leave and began to interview Titans OC Arthur Smith, and Saleh went to Florida to interview with Philly. Their owner Jeffrey Laurie is a very persuasive person, so you can tell the Jets fans were scared that he’d be an Eagle instead of a Jet. However, it seems as if Saleh wanted to test the waters and the Jets wanted to finish their process. They may have already had a deal in place, but they wanted to finish the process. Eventually, the Jets hired Saleh and he wanted to join the Jets. NY was his most favorable destination. It makes sense because we have a very-well respected GM, have the third most cap space, lots of draft capitol, and seem like we have an idea on what we are doing. Saleh is a game changer, he is the most passionate man that I have seen coach football. This is the best hire we’ve had since Todd Bowles, say what you want but Bowles would’ve been a successful HC if he had a competent GM. That GM drafted two safeties with the first two picks of the 2017 NFL Draft, that is unheard of.
Personal Background:
Robert Saleh is 41 years old, and is from Dearborn, Michigan. He has always loved the sport of football and it is his passion, he admitted in an interview. The event that changed his life forever was, the 9/11 attacks. His brother was located in the second building, nobody knew for hours if he made it or not. When his brother came home, Saleh had a deep moment. He re-thought his life decisions. He decided does he want to chase the money with a corporate job, or does he want to become a coach. The excitement of coaching football was too strong and he decided to coach football. In the beginning, he made $5 an hour and $25,000 a year with the Houston Texans. He said this about coaching for $5 an hour, “I swear to you, I thought I was the richest kid in the world. I had the job I loved and was making whatever money I was making, I couldn’t have been happier.” This man truly loves football, and it feels good to know my coach loves this sport and wants to succeed as much as me. He is the first Muslim-American man to be a NFL head coach. He also has a family of six kids and another kid coming in April of 2021. According to Peter Schrager, Saleh said he wanted the Jets job in a text exchange with him.
Opinion:
I am happy to say that Saleh is the coach of my football team, he will help so many of our young under-developed players get that boost. Don’t be surprised if Quinnen and Bryce Hall (not TikTok) takes a big step next year. This is a big deal Jets fans, we got someone passionate about this team like us. I kind of isolated him from my head coaching list, due to the fact that the Lions had an open spot and Saleh is from Michigan. So, I thought there would be a deal in place but it seems like Saleh wanted the Lions more than the Lions wanted him. However, I put in my Coaching Candidates article that Saleh would be an A-rated hire for me. I applaud Joe Douglas for hiring his own guy and not somebody he knew like Doug Pederson, Greg Roman or Don “Wink” Martindale. I wouldn’t have been mad at a Pederson or Martindale hire, but I definitely prefer Saleh. People underestimate how big of a deal getting Mike LaFleur as an OC is. The Shanahan offense is in New York! Whether the QB is Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson or Deshaun Watson this will be a successful offense and LaFleur will get the most out of one of these gentlemen. Many complained about the hire because what will happen when LaFleur gets poached away from the Jets in 2-3 years, I would be absolutely ecstatic if that’s the case. That means that we FINALLY have a good offense and Darnold’s career may have been resurrected or the rookie QB is balling. I have FULL belief in this hire and I can’t wait for this press conference, we’ll know by then if this was an eye-opening hire. As usual Go Jets and we hired ROBERT SALEH! J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
Thanks for reading everybody. This has been Jose Calderon III with FiveBoroughDispatch, have a great day; everybody!
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