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On First Take, Adam Schefter joins from the backseat of a car to react to breaking news that Robert Saleh is OUT as the New York Jets’ head coach.
On First Take, Adam Schefter joins from the backseat of a car to react to breaking news that Robert Saleh is OUT as the New York Jets’ head coach.
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00:00Yes, you're the head coach, I'm not going to defend you, you deserve to do better, you should get fired, but we have to understand, all the context in this situation is not only on Robert Salah.
00:09Guys, hold that thought one second, I want to bring in our Adam Schefter who broke this news. Adam, good morning, do you have us?
00:16Good morning, you got me? I'm in a car in Michigan, so you'll have to forgive me, I literally was getting off the plane, got the call about Robert Salah.
00:21No worries.
00:22And here we are, so I'm trying to steady the phone, they just named Jeff Ulbricht as the interim head coach, the defensive coordinator is going to be taking over for Robert Salah as he becomes the first head coach to be let go during this season.
00:36He's got a year left on his contract after this season, but even this still is surprising.
00:42Now, this is a team, I think, that had looked a little off recently, they weren't looking exactly the way they should, and the Jets felt like they needed to do something to try to get this team back, and they told Robert Salah of this decision here minutes ago.
00:58Adam, Woody, the owner for the Jets, has never fired a coach in season, as far as I remember. Why now? What was the tipping point that made this happen right now, as opposed to a few more games or even getting through the season? Why now?
01:21I think that they believe that they have a really good team. I think that they think this team, especially in that division, can compete to win the division, and it wasn't performing the way that everybody expected.
01:35If we watch this team, everybody would admit, every Jet fan, it looked off. They lost at home to Denver, they lost to Minnesota. What's odd is in this day and age, in the National Football League, there are peaks and valleys to every team's season. Everybody goes through them.
01:55But with the pressure in New York, I just feel like they felt like this is a team that should be performing better, winning more often, and Woody Johnson didn't want to squander what could potentially be the last year of Aaron Rodgers' career.
02:15We don't know if we'll see Aaron Rodgers again. They went out and traded for him last year, with the idea that he was going to bring back this franchise. And he got hurt last year against Buffalo on Monday Night Football, and oddly enough, he'll be against Buffalo again this week on Monday Night Football.
02:31They had the extra day to get ready for the Bills on Monday night, and they decided they felt like Jeff Albrecht would bring a spark to this team that they didn't have under Robert Sala.
02:46Obviously, the belief would be there's no way this call would be made without his OK. And not only that, what about other players and what other players were saying about the coach inside that locker room prior to this move being made?
03:02Well, Stephen, I don't know that Aaron Rodgers was involved in it, and I don't know that they consulted with him before they made the decision. I think ultimately, the owner makes the call that he believes is best.
03:18And as you said, I can't remember the last time they fired a coach in season. It certainly hasn't been in recent history. But I just come back to this. I can't say that they went to the players and polled the players or they spoke to Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Rodgers said, I want a new head coach.
03:34I believe that those two men did get along well. I believe there was a healthy respect there, despite the fact that people have been analyzing their relationship the last couple of weeks since the sideline hugs and whatever has happened or not happened.
03:49I think, in a nutshell, the team was not performing the way that Woody Johnson expected them to. And with them not performing the way they expected to, before the season slipped away, before it got too late, they made the dramatic move to make Robert Sala, the first head coach, fired this season, five games into the season.
04:16As they begin to get ready for a key Monday night game against the Buffalo Bills.
04:21Adam, why was Jeff Albrecht the guy?
04:23Well, Jeff Albrecht is considered one of the brighter coaching candidates around the National Football League. The two coordinators are Jeff Albrecht and Nathaniel Hackett. And so those are your choices, really. And I think that they felt like Albrecht would bring a certain fire and energy to this team. And ultimately, that was the direction that they decided to go.
04:46What specifically did they say was the issue with Robert Sala? Was there some particular concern that they think will be improved now that they've moved on from him?
04:55Adam, thank you so much. Shannon, I want to come to you on this. So obviously, he said part of the reason the timing of this move was because they believe this Jets team is a really good team and that they can compete to win the division. Do you believe that is true? And by making this change that can happen?
05:18Well, this is one of the division because the teams aren't very good. You look at the Patriots. They've lost every game since the first game of the season. Miami is struggling with the court, even though they just won this past week. They beat the worst team in the division, the Patriots, but they're struggling because their quarterback, they don't know if and when Tua is going to come back. Josh Allen, he doesn't have the weapons that he once had. Their defense is not, you can't keep losing quality players. Von Miller is suspended. Matt Milano got injured again.
05:45Tredavious White is gone. You're both your safeties. Micah Hyde and Jordan Poirier, they're gone. You can't keep losing quality players, Fox. You know this. At some point in time, it catches up. You can't keep saying next man up, next man up because if the next man was any good, he'd have been up to begin with and he wouldn't need to be the next man up. He'd already be standing up, but I find it odd. I find it odd that Nathaniel Hackett, you say you have a problem with the offense. You don't remove the coordinator.
06:13Fox, that's what normally happens. If you're struggling on one side of the ball and it's glaring, you remove that guy. No, they bypassed him, a hand-selected offensive coordinator, I might add. Now, I find it a little ironic too. Let's see, who do you want as an offensive coordinator? Okay, we get it. Hey man, you know what? I'd really like to have Alan Lazard. They go get him. Oh, now they're in the sweepstakes for Devontae Adams, but he played no role. I couldn't be wrong, but quarterbacks, quarterbacks like an Aaron Rodgers, like an Aaron Rodgers,
06:43like a Patrick Mahomes, like a Tom Brady, like a Peyton Manning. They have a lot more say than normal quarterbacks in normal position in NFL teams.
06:54Che, real quick before Nick jumps in. Do you believe that they're a really good team?
06:59No, I do not. I do not. And the thing is, they have the same number of points with Aaron Rodgers that they had last year with Zach Wilson. And somehow Robert Sala, he kept his job last year because everybody told him, if they had a quarterback with that defense,
07:17Dominique, ain't no telling how good the Jets can be. Well, they got a quarterback. How good are they?
07:28They got a quarterback. How good are they?