Robert Saleh turned up at Packers practice Wednesday, and it does not appear the recently fired Jets HC was merely visiting. Matt LaFleur has a role in mind for the veteran defensive coach.
Crediting Saleh with helping him break into the NFL coaching ranks, LaFleur said (via ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky) Saleh will work with the team through Thursday in a fluid role. Saleh was not expected coach elsewhere this season, but he has decided to help LaFleur for at least this week.
Saleh and LaFleur lived together while graduate assistants at Central Michigan in the 2000s. Saleh then encouraged Gary Kubiak to hire LaFleur as a Texans offensive assistant in 2008, Demovsky adds. LaFleur was the best man at Saleh’s wedding. Were Saleh to backtrack on a plan to stay out of coaching for this season’s remainder, it would make sense for that change of heart to involve the Packers.
The Jets fired Saleh after five games this season. Woody Johnson made the decision, going around GM Joe Douglas to do so. Saleh has remained in touch with interim Jets HC Jeff Ulbrich and would stand, based on his 49ers past and the Jets’ defensive turnaround over the past three seasons, to be a coveted DC candidate come 2025. Saleh, 45, may well stay busy in the meantime.
Some Jets players, per Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline, view Johnson as acting too quickly. As a result of this — and presumably the team’s two losses under Ulbrich — less-than-ideal vibes are present in the locker room. Saleh went 20-36 as Jets HC, though much of that tenure involved QB bust Zach Wilson at the controls. Johnson cited a lack of belief in Saleh’s ability to turn this season around. While Ulbrich and Aaron Rodgers could eventually do so, they have dug a deeper hole since the full-time HC’s firing.
LaFleur said Saleh is working on the offensive side, but the temporary assistant has a history with new Packers DC Jeff Hafley as well. Hafley worked under Saleh as San Francisco’s DBs coach from 2017-18.
So much for his family vacation! Glad he’s working again. Aaron did him wrong.
He was fired 3 weeks ago. He took a family vacation for probably 2 weeks then came back and wanted to return to work.
From Google: Yes, after being fired from the Jets, Robert Saleh reportedly stated that he would take a vacation with his family and prepare for a defensive coordinator position after the 2024 season
After the 2024 season means next year.
I bet they’re bonding over a mutual dislike of Rogers lol
Heck yea infect the Packers with the Jets taint.
He may not be a great head coach, but he’s a great football coach. Good guy to have around young defensive players.
This probably also confirms that Saleh had no say in the Jets firing LaFleur’s brother.
I actually think that he did a decent job, all things considered. Of course, I also believe that Rodgers didn’t have him fired and that it was Johnson, so there’s that.
It’d be good to see Saleh get a chance with a more grounded franchise so we can see what he is actually capable of on his own.
Agreed. I think he was at least great at defensive scheming, defensive player development, and keeping glute team playing hard even in tough times. He likely deserves another look one day. In the meantime, he’d be my first DC call for a new offensive minded head coach.
I struggle to believe Aaron didn’t have a hand in that, especially with what Craig Carton said on his morning show. Carton claims Johnson and Rodgers spoke on the phone about Hackett being relieved of play calling duties, with Johnson asking Rodgers what his thoughts were on the change and Rodgers expressing that he didn’t like it.
It just struck me as too coincidental that Saleh gets fired after deciding to make that change. I know they made the change anyway, but I almost feel that was to try to shield Aaron from the heat.
But given the circumstances, I think Saleh did an alright job. He wasn’t the problem; he just wasn’t the answer in NY, either. I’d like to see how he’d do though somewhere other than there, too. Some of being a great HC is lucking into a stable situation, which many people can’t afford to wait for given how few of those jobs are out there.
NFL coaching jobs pay pretty well so perhaps I need to start crashing weddings.
Isn’t it possible he’s just visiting a best friend with no constraints?