Jaguars 2025 head coach candidate profile: Former Jets HC Robert Saleh

For the third time in 5 years, the Jacksonville Jaguars are looking for a brand new head coach.

Large Cat Nation’s Jaguars head coach hiring course of tracker is consistently being up to date — however to offer extra data on the highest candidates being interviewed, we’ll be releasing in-depth profiles all through the search.

Different head coach candidate profiles:

Subsequent up: Robert Saleh, who interviewed with the Jaguars on January 14th.

Photograph by Justin Ford/Getty Photographs

Expertise

Saleh performed tight finish at Northern Michigan, the place he graduated with a level in finance in 2000. He took a well-paying desk job at Comerica Financial institution, however when his brother narrowly survived the terrible occasions of Sept. 11, 2001, Saleh discovered the motivation to pursue his ardour.

He started his teaching profession as an assistant at Michigan State in 2002. He switched from tight ends coach to defensive position coach in 2003, then was employed for the latter place at Central Michigan at 2004, then was employed to teach linebackers at Georgia in 2005.

Saleh made it to the league in 2005 when the Texans employed him as a defensive intern. He grew to become defensive high quality management coach a 12 months later, and have become assistant linebackers coach three years after that.

Saleh’s profession actually took off when the Seahawks employed him as their defensive high quality management coach in 2011. In Seattle, Saleh helped Pete Caroll construct the “Legion of Boom” protection and win Tremendous Bowl XLVIII. The Jaguars employed then-Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley as their new head coach in 2013 and Saleh adopted him to be linebackers coach. Beneath his watch, Telvin Smith made a second-team All-Professional workforce and the “Sacksonville” protection led the Jaguars to an AFC Championship sport look.

When he wasn’t retained by Doug Marrone in 2017, Saleh grew to become 49ers defensive coordinator in 2017. The primary two years have been tough as he and Kyle Shanahan rebuilt the roster, however from 2019 to 2020, the Niners protection ranked first in complete yards allowed.

Saleh then received his shot as an NFL head coach when he took over the Jets in 2021. Once more, there was a sluggish begin — however from 2022 to 2024, the Jets protection ranked first in complete yards allowed.

New York fired Saleh after Week 5 of the 2024 season. Regardless of nice defensive metrics, the Jets weren’t profitable sufficient ball video games as a result of the offense was a complete mess. From Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers and each NPC in between, no quarterback allowed the workforce to play complimentary.

Saleh served as an offensive guide with the Packers for the rest of the season.

Because the 2021 season, Robert Saleh’s first in New York, the Jets protection is

1st in factors per drive1st in EPA per play3rd in success fee

…regardless of taking part in the fourth-most snaps over that stretch.

Saleh by no means solved the QB downside, however man. He delivered on protection.

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 8, 2024

Efficiency

2023 Jets protection

Factors per sport allowed: 20.9 (twelfth)
First downs per sport allowed: 17.5 (2nd)
Yards per sport allowed: 292.3 (third)
Yards per play allowed: 4.6 (2nd)
EPA per play allowed: -0.11 (third)
Success fee allowed: 37.8% (2nd)

Passing protection

Complete touchdowns allowed: 19 (4th)
First downs per sport allowed: 8.8 (2nd)
Yards per sport allowed: 168.3 (2nd)
Yards per try allowed: 6.1 (4th)
EPA per play allowed: -0.097 (4th)
Success fee allowed: 39.7% (third)

Speeding protection

Complete touchdowns allowed: 14 (eleventh)
First downs per sport allowed: 6.5 (twenty first)
Yards per sport allowed: 124.0 (twenty fifth)
Yards per try allowed: 4.1 (14th)
EPA per play allowed: -0.127 (ninth)
Success fee allowed: 35.2% (4th)

Situational protection

Early down EPA per play allowed: -0.152 (1st)
Early down success fee allowed: 36.6% (1st)
Late down EPA per play allowed: 0.023 (twenty second)
Late down success fee allowed: 41.4% (eighth)

Quotes

Finance to Soccer: Robert Saleh’s Story of Pursuing His Ardour

From Joe Fann for 49ers.com (Jan. 15, 2021)

Saleh’s brother was within the second tower on Sept. 11, 2001. Luckily, he made it to security earlier than the constructing collapsed. Even so, one of many darkest days in American historical past supplied a stark reminder that life might be fleeting. Saleh ditched finance for soccer just some months later.

That is Robert Saleh’s second

From Oliver Connolly for The Learn Non-compulsory (August 14, 2023)

Saleh desires to play with 4 down linemen, hardly ever blitz, and to sink again into solely a handful of coverages. He’s betting on gamers, not performs; he depends on a core group of ideas dressed up in a few other ways, and trusts gamers to react intuitively in protection.

… It’s a great playoff profile – the sort that has helped gas the Niners’ deep playoff fees. Few defenses did a greater job of layering their protection than the Jets final 12 months – including as many layers and completely different depths to the protection as potential. Mixing a well-layered again finish with a ferocious four-man rush is the championship key. Quarterbacks have to be good. Or Superhuman. Or Patrick Mahomes.

New York Jets’ firing of Robert Saleh startling however not shocking, given Woody Johnson’s earlier remarks

From Judy Battista for NFL.com (Oct. 8, 2024)

Penalties plagued New York final season and have been persevering with to be a problem this season — the Jets have been probably the most penalized workforce within the 2023 common season (124), and since 2023, they’ve been referred to as for probably the most penalties within the NFL (163). Since 2021, the 12 months Saleh was employed, the Jets have averaged the fewest factors per sport (17.3) and have probably the most giveaways (89) within the NFL. Saleh’s 20-36 file is the third-worst within the NFL since he was employed.

Why was Robert Saleh Fired by the Jets?

From Warren Sharp for Sharp Soccer Evaluation (Oct. 8, 2024)

Saleh produced a 20-36 file with the Jets. He didn’t have a great quarterback state of affairs for many of his tenure. The weak spot of his quarterbacks was factored into betting traces, nonetheless, and the Jets underperformed in opposition to these expectations. The workforce lined the unfold in simply 22 of 56 video games (40%) with Saleh as head coach. That’s the #2 worst fee within the NFL for the reason that begin of Saleh’s tenure. The Jets rank forward of simply the Carolina Panthers, who’ve fired a number of coaches since 2021.

Contained in the Jets’ break up with coach Robert Saleh, subsequent steps

From Wealthy Cimini for ESPN (Oct. 14, 2024)

From all indications, Saleh didn’t lose the locker room. The workforce nonetheless was taking part in arduous for him, evidenced by the late rally in opposition to the Vikings. After the firing, some gamers spoke glowingly of Saleh, most notably Gardner, who mentioned, “I’m going to be completely honest. With what we’ve been saying [as a team], we’re doing it for him still.”

The place will Ben Johnson, Brian Flores land? Predicting the NFL teaching hires

From Zack Rosenblatt for The Athletic (Jan. 13, 2025)

This one would possibly really feel prefer it’s out of left subject, however there’s some actual buzz about Saleh’s possibilities of securing [Jacksonville’s head coach] job. Saleh may need been helped by Jets proprietor Woody Johnson’s choice to fireplace him in Week 5, particularly due to what occurred afterward. The Jets have been considerably worse after interim coach Jeff Ulbrich took over, significantly on protection, the place Saleh had constructed the Jets into one of many league’s High-5 defenses in each 2022 and ’23.

Obvious pluses

As Rosenblatt wrote, “Saleh has a lot of fans in the Jaguars’ building from his time as the linebackers coach from 2014-16.” Among the many candidates requested to be interviewed by Jacksonville, he and Todd Monken are the one ones who beforehand coached for the workforce. Many within the Jaguars’ constructing view the previous as “the one who got away.” Even when Saleh — the NFL’s first Muslim head coach and doubtlessly the Jaguars’ first minority head coach — is just not picked to run the workforce, he’d nonetheless be a reputation to look at at defensive coordinator.
Saleh checks each field as a defensive thoughts: his scheme maximizes expertise, his sport plans alter weekly, and his management is unquestionable. After ending as a top-three protection in 2023, the 2024 Jets ranked sixth in EPA per play allowed and success fee allowed from Weeks 1-5 (earlier than Saleh was fired). They have been bottom-four in each metrics from Weeks 6-18.
He’s been there earlier than. Although he wasn’t profitable in his first stint as NFL head coach, Saleh does get some bonus factors for having led a locker room earlier than. He’s additionally been employed inside the league for 20 years in comparison with 13 years for Ben Johnson and 5 for Liam Coen.

Lingering questions

Was Saleh’s lack of success in New York solely attributable to quarterback play? It’s arduous to disregard such a poor head coach file (20-36) even with that caveat. He was 13-17 in one-score video games.
Can he get probably the most out of Trevor Lawrence? If Saleh is chosen to be the Jaguars’ subsequent head coach, crucial addition to his workers can be his offensive coordinator. Maximizing Lawrence is a prime precedence for Jacksonville. As a lot because the workforce wants a brand new chief, it additionally wants a star quarterback to make it deep into the postseason.
Can he get probably the most out of Foye Oluokun and Devin Lloyd? After quarterback, the following place to look at beneath Saleh can be linebacker. Saleh coached the group throughout his stint in Jacksonville and helped flip Quincy Williams (drafted and minimize by the Jaguars) into an All-Professional in New York. Oluokun is a beast albeit coming off a comparatively down 12 months, and Lloyd has but to change into the playmaker Jacksonville envisioned after they traded up into the primary spherical in 2021 to draft him.
Will he re-invent the tradition? And extra particularly, will he keep true to his messaging? Doug Pederson by no means had a constant response when requested about his workforce’s identification final season. Ryan Nielsen pitched an “attack and aggressive” mantra however referred to as a gentle and conservative protection. Apparently, Robert Saleh likes to say “All gas no brakes.” Whoever Jacksonville’s subsequent head coach is should talk his philosophy and carry it out in full.

Jaguars followers, how do you are feeling about Saleh? Tell us within the feedback!