It’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving bellies are full. Credit card debt is piling up with Black Friday savings. Lights are being hung on houses and trees. And NFL teams are firing coaches after lackluster seasons.

We have already seen two head coaches get the ax so far this season as well as two high profile offensive coordinators in both Buffalo and Pittsburgh. The Las Vegas Raiders let go of head coach Josh McDaniels back on November 1^st. But that was because he lost the locker room in some reportedly bazar decisions.

Today it was announced that the Carolina Panthers have let go of head coach Frank Reich after only 11 games. This should not be any team’s blueprint as it feels like a complete panic move. In fact, between his MLS and NFL teams, Panthers owner David Tepper has fired 4 head coaches in the last 18 months. 

Some fans have been calling for the Jets to fire GM Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Saleh or offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett or any combination of all of them.

This is a mistake.

I know, I know. You all have your reasons for wanting one or all these people fired, and some of the reasons have validity. But it would be a short sighted and frankly, emotional move to get rid of any of these men.

Three Jets on the Hot Seat

Joe Douglas, General Manager

Let’s start with the easiest one to defend. Joe Douglas has hit a lot more than he has missed which is more than anyone can say about Jets’ general managers in the past.

I believe he messed up a lot this season, most notably at the back up quarterback position. His inaction to make a move for someone, anyone, who could have given this team a chance to compete is inexcusable. He believed in his guy, Zach Wilson and he was let down like the rest of us.

As for the offensive line, Joe has made every attempt to get it fixed. He spent multiple first round picks on the line except when he was shut out of the top tackles in this year’s draft. He spent big money on free agents who haven’t lived up to the paycheck.

He constantly takes high ceiling guys in the back half of the draft and signs depth pieces. Injuries, bad luck, and lack of options have made the line look worse than the effort Joe has put it to build it.

He also convinced one of the greatest quarterbacks to join the Jets. His seat should be luke warm at worst.

Robert Saleh, Head Coach

Robert Saleh does not have a great record since becoming head coach of the Jets. But that can’t be the only thing we focus on at this point. For starters, Saleh inherited an absolute dumpster fire. Remember Adam Gase?

Guys still want to play for Robert Saleh and guys play hard for him. He has turned this defense into a formidable unit that can shut down anyone. Imagine if they could play with a lead.

Saleh does have some improving to do in his player development and some of his in-game decision making. The head coach needs to be a leader of men and Saleh is just that.

Think of how fractured this locker room could be with less of a leader at the helm. For one unit to be so dominant and the other to be so putrid, there could be a lot of finger-pointing and blame being thrown around the locker room, and nobody would really blame the players. But that isn’t what is happening.

Lastly, you cannot win in this league with consistency without a quarterback and Robert Saleh has been saddled with Zach Wilson, Josh Johnson, Joe Flacco, Mike White, Tim Boyle and Chris Streveler.

The seat for Saleh should be very warm next year with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. 

Nathaniel Hackett, Offensive Coordinator

Nathaniel Hackett is getting much of the blame and it’s easy to see why. He coaches the offense and the offense is putrid. I don’t find his game plan very creative. I don’t watch the Jets and say “that was a hell of a play call”. I find myself laughing and crying throughout every game when the offense is on the field.

So, why then? Why keep the offensive coordinator who is the leader of one of the worst offenses to grace the NFL in recent memory. Simple. Aaron Rodgers.

You can say all you want about the timing of Hackett’s hiring, but the fact is he was brought in to bring in Aaron Rodgers and he delivered. The first thing Rodgers said when he was introduced as a Jet was, that he wanted to work with Hackett again.

Hackett was never meant to coach a Zach Wilson or Tim Boyle lead offense. He was meant to be the coaching voice of the true mastermind of the offense: Rodgers.

If you are going to Disney World with the family, and your flight is delayed by a day, you don’t skip going to Disney World when you get to Orlando just because it was a lot harder to get where you wanted to be. If you bring in a coach to work with a quarterback and he gets hurt four offensive plays in, you don’t fire the coach before he got to work with him.

His seat should be very hot going into next season with a six-week job interview to start the year. The Jets should have some sort of plan in place next year in case the offense looks like this with Rodgers at the helm.

---

We all knew this Jets team wasn’t going to be what it was meant to be as soon as Rodgers’ Achilles popped. This is a throw away year and should be treated as such. But next year? Even Aaron Rodgers won’t be able to save anyone’s job if the Jets look like this again.

Jets get routed by Miami Dolphins

The Jets came into their game against the Miami Dolphins with a greater sense of urgency than they have shown recent weeks, opting to bench quarterback Zach Wilson in favor of backup Tim Boyle. New quarterback.  Same offense. Tim Boyle was not the answer the Jets were hoping for and the Jets lost to the […]

Featured image via Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports