New York Jets hiring Robert Saleh as next head coach

The New York Jets are hiring San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their next head coach.

The New York Jets tried their hand at the Adam Gase experiment for the past two seasons and it failed miserably. After falling to 2-14 on the year, Jets general manager Joe Douglas underwent an extensive coaching search to find a “CEO-type” for the job. On Thursday night, they got their guy.

According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, the Jets are hiring San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to be their newest head coach. The Jets are signing Saleh to a five-year contract, per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Saleh recently met with the Jets in person

Saleh impressed the Jets with his virtual interview, so they decided to bring him to the team’s facility in Florham Park, New Jersey on Tuesday. The Jets would let him leave the interview without a contract, as they had an interview set up with Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, which was conducted and concluded on Thursday. Hours later, the Jets made it official that they were hiring Saleh as the 20th head coach in franchise history.

Additionally, Saleh is now the first Muslim-American head coach in NFL history.

Saleh is known for his high energy on the sidelines and his brilliant defensive mindset. While many will point to the amount of talent he had in San Francisco, we’d like to point out the work he did this season with an injury-battered defense. Through 16 regular-season games, the 49ers allowed an average of 314.4 yards of total offense (fifth-fewest in NFL), 207.9 passing yards (fourth-fewest) and 106.4 rushing yards (seventh-fewest) per game.

As for those Jets fans who are curious about what he’ll bring to the offense, well, that would be a member of the 49ers coaching staff. According to Schefter, Saleh is expected to bring 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur to become the Jets’ offensive coordinator. That means the Jets will implement some form of Kyle Shanahan’s offensive scheme with Saleh at the helm, which will do wonders for Sam Darnold or whichever quarterback they opt to select with the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The Jets interviewed a total of nine candidates, and after deliberation, they believed that Saleh was the right man for the job to lead the Jets out of the AFC East cellar and into playoff contention.