Bill Belichick resigned many years ago as “HC of the NYC,” presumably due to his lack of interest in working for the team’s owner, Woody Johnson.
In the latest episode of the Let’s Go! podcast, one of Belichick’s umpteen media platforms in 2024, the six-time Super Bowl winner commented on last week’s decision by Woody to send coach Robert Saleh walking.
“Just seemed like a little early to pull the trigger on that one to me,” Belichick said. “But not out of character for the owner. Woody’s always been kind of hard to predict what he’s gonna do. Some of it just is hard to make sense out of, but I think Saleh did a good job there. He brought a strong culture to the defense and obviously not quite there yet, but a long way to go in the season, seemed like a premature move.”
With the passing of nearly a week since Woody fired Saleh, the prevailing view has become that Woody (who wasn’t running the show when Saleh was hired) simply wanted to go another way. Whether it made sense or not to do it.
"[I]t’s one of the best defensive teams in the league,” Belichick added. “Robert made them that way. They were 32nd his first year, and they’ve been consistently in the top five, top three in most categories. So he’s done a great job on that side of the ball. And then they’ve had some issues at quarterback, and now Aaron [Rodgers is] back, but out of football for a year.”
If Rodgers disagreed with the decision, he hasn’t said so. And there have been no leaks suggesting he opposed it. Maybe, after his time with the Jets has ended, he’ll provide more flavor as to whether the move left a sour taste in his mouth.
It surely has for Saleh. With a win tonight, the Jets will be tied for first place in the AFC East. While the interim coach bump might do the trick, it remains to be seen whether the move makes the 2024 Jets better.
And, as the names begin to emerge regarding potentially permanent (as permanent as it ever is for the Jets) successors to Saleh, it would be an even bigger shock than the firing of Saleh if Belichick is hired.
