The Jets delivered their head coach on Thursday night with the hiring of Robert Saleh.
Now what?
Saleh has a big task ahead of him, along with Joe Douglas, general manager. There are a lot of good feelings around the Jets after hiring Saleh, but it’s still a team that won just 2-14, has a big question mark at quarterback and a list of more needs than a newborn kid.
This will not be news for Saleh, who did his homework on the Jets just like on him. He knows what he’s getting himself into and he clearly thinks the Jets work is good because he probably would have had other offers if he had waited.
The to-do list is long for Saleh and Douglas. Here are the areas to work on first:
Hire a staff
Coaching staff is underestimated. Media and fans focus on the head coach in these appointments and usually a coordinator, but it goes much deeper than that. A bad coaching team can bring down a good head coach. One of the biggest problems for Todd Bowles when he was with the Jets was his coaching staff. Rex Ryan had a good coaching staff early in his tenure, and he then lost key pieces and the substitutes did not work.
We know that Saleh wants to take Mike LaFleur from San Francisco along to be his offensive coordinator. LaFleur is very much thinking about the NFL and will bring the Kyle Shanahan offense along, so the move needs to score high points. Apart from LaFleur, however, there were no whispers about who would still come with him.
The most important hire for me to the offensive coordinator is the offensive coach. The Jets need a good one. Douglas said he wants to build the attacking line and those young players will need good coaching. Bill Callahan did wonders under Eric Mangini and Ryan with the Jets line. Recently, the coaching in that room was not good.
It is not yet known if Saleh will be the defensive player. Even if he is not, he will surely have a big hand in the defense plan every week. The Jets want him to coach the entire team and not focus on one side of the ball, but his defensive expertise has helped him get this job.
One of the things the Jets liked about Saleh is that he’s been in the NFL for 16 years. Some of the other candidates have much less NFL experience. Saleh knows people. He must be able to put together a good staff.
What to do with Sam?
With the decision on head coaching, Sam Darnold’s decision now falls on the organization. Does the Jets keep Darnold for another year or do they take a quarterback with the No. 2 in the draft?
Saleh certainly gave the team some opinions on this topic during the interview process, but the Jets have not yet made a decision. Douglas and Saleh will consider the options and determine in which direction they should go. The Jets need to evaluate the quarterbacks of the colleagues, find out what they can get in a trade for Darnold and weigh all the factors before making a franchise-changing decision.
Evaluate their own
Saleh needs to dig deep into the roster before the team’s leadership starts thinking about free agency and the concept. The decision on the roster will ultimately be Douglas, but the GM has said he wants the head coach to be his partner, and the two will work on that now.
The Jets’ roster problems are well documented and will not be corrected overnight. The team is expected to have $ 70 million in salary cuts through Over the Cap. They have 19 players who should be unlimited free agents.
The most important free agent is safety Marcus Maye. Douglas said after the season that bringing back Maye is a priority. It must be. He was the MVP team and is one of the few good players who drafted the previous regime. After Maye, the Jets must decide whether players like Jordan Jenkins, Brian Poole, Neville Hewitt, Tarell Basham and Breshad Perriman are worth signing again.
Saleh got the job. Now he has to go to work.