As Robert Saleh said he planned to infuse every aspect of the Jets with a clear identity, the team formally announced on Thursday most of the team that will support him when he starts his first season as an NFL team coach.
Several of the assistants have ties to the San Francisco 49ers, whose defense has been successful with Saleh as coordinator for the past four years. The defense of the Jets, which ranked 26th in points allowed in 2020, will be led by Jeff Ulbrich, who was promoted to defensive co-coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons this season after serving as a linebacker coach since 2015.
Ulbrich spent his entire playing career with the 49ers as a linebacker from 2000 to 2009, and when he was a technical assistant for special teams at the Seattle Seahawks, he worked with Saleh during the 2011 season. Saleh said that, unlike some former coordinators when they became coaches, he would leave the defensive game by calling Ulbrich and assume a more supervisory role.
While Saleh, 41, tries to end the 10-year streak of Jets without appearances in the postseason, the question of staying with quarterback Sam Darnold, the third choice in the 2018 draft, is a big one. On Thursday, Saleh declined to discuss whether the team was considering using its No. 2 overall pick in this spring’s draft on another young quarterback or possibly trying to negotiate with Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, who reportedly was dissatisfied after hiring a new one. general manager without your consultation.
Saleh made an enthusiastic assessment of Darnold’s arm and said: “He is fearless in his pocket, has a natural throwing movement, is mobile, is extremely intelligent”, adding that “his reputation in the locker room is unquestionable”. Even so, he almost guaranteed the team would retain Darnold as a starter next season.
“We are just putting the team in the building, so there are so many things that we have to do from the point of view of the assessment with respect to the entire squad, not just a defender,” Saleh said at his first press conference as head coach. “Giving you that answer now would not be fair.”
The new offensive coordinatorMike LaFleur will come from the 49ers team, as will John Benton, the offensive line manager and coordinator of the racing game. Greg Knapp, the new Jets pass game specialist, most recently worked with the Atlanta Falcons, but he started his NFL coaching career in San Francisco in the 1990s and replaced Saleh on the Texans team in 2010. Rob Calabrese, who most recently worked with the Denver Broncos, will be the new defender coach.
The 2020 Jets attack was the worst in the league in most categories under Adam Gase, who left the team with a 9-23 record during his two years. Saleh’s hope is to make the Jets ‘attack reflect the 49ers’ system perfected by coach Kyle Shanahan.
“There will be a clear identity of what we are trying to accomplish inside and outside the offensive side of the ball, the defensive side of the ball and special teams, for that matter,” said Saleh.
Saleh said the team’s philosophy would be “gasoline only, no brakes”, a phrase he also used when he introduced himself as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.
“He has consistently demonstrated the ability to innovate, motivate and collaborate,” said Christopher Johnson, who has served as chairman of the Jets board for the past four years, on Saleh. “Your character and passion are what this team needs.”
Johnson will also take on a new role with the Jets as his vice president, allowing his brother, Woody, to regain the place of decision making as the principal owner. Woody Johnson has served as an ambassador to the United Kingdom since 2017 under the Trump administration; Christopher Johnson said his brother was returning to the United States on Thursday.