Several Jets players met the media on Zoom calls the day after the team’s season ended. They were all asked what the Jets, who had just finished 2-14 for their fifth losing season in a row and 10th of the playoffs, were missing.
Each gave a similar answer about the lack of identity and a winning culture for the Jets.
The Jets hope they have solved that problem by hiring Robert Saleh as their new head coach. Saleh comes to the Jets after stints with successful organizations such as the 49ers and Seahawks. He has one Super Bowl ring and went to another.
Saleh impressed the Jets’ decision-makers that he can be a much-needed change agent for the organization. He seems to have the personality and make-up to inspire and push the team in the right direction. It’s something the Jets struggled with as head coach under Adam Gase and Todd Bowles.
“Attack, defense, special teams, it doesn’t matter,” Saleh said of his philosophy this season. “It is the mindset of the person in charge that creates an atmosphere where players compete and players fight for each other, and players have a real love for each other.”
Saleh served as a defensive quality control coach for the Seahawks from 2011-13. That’s a low position, but Saleh had to watch Seattle head coach Pete Carroll every day. Culture is a common word in sports, but Carroll created a culture in Seattle.
“The only thing they pushed a lot in Seattle was just the culture,” said Jet’s offensive tackle George Fant, who played for the Seahawks from 2016-19. ‘We have to change the culture. We have to bring culture here. I think they want to do that. “
Fant pointed to Carroll as the one who sets the tone in Seattle.
“Everywhere is different. In Seattle, Pete is the culture, ”said Fant. “The way he comes to work excited every day just makes you feel like you’re not working. You have fun playing football every day and bond as teammates and coaches. “
Bowles and Gase both tried to establish a culture, but failed. Neither had the outsized personality to effect instant change. They both thought they could do it over time by bringing in certain types of players and by winning. Rex Ryan changed the culture of the Jets when he came in, the players bought in as the team started to win, leading to two AFC title games. The Jets then let some key team leaders out the door and the team felt separate. Since then, the Jets have been trying to regroup.
It has been too long since there was no identity to being Jet.
‘Just a real identity,’ said linebacker Tarell Basham at the end of the season about what the team was missing, ‘what you see when you look at the D line, what you see when you look at the secondary line, what you see when you look at the line of attack, what you see when you look at our receiving force, an identity. That’s one thing I think we miss. “
Players come and go and there is no tradition to be passed on as there is with teams like the Ravens, Steelers or Patriots. Saleh won’t be able to change that overnight. It will take time and general manager Joe Douglas will have to fill the roster with players who will stay here for more than two years.
Still, Saleh feels he can change the conversation around the Jets when he comes in. In a way, he already has, if you consider the fans’ reaction to Thursday night’s announcement. Jets fans have not been so generally satisfied with a decision in a long time.
Saleh spoke about how Carroll affected him in 2017.
“The biggest influence I’ve had from Coach Carroll has been from a philosophical standpoint,” Saleh said, according to ESPN. “Understand who you are as a person. Understand what is important to you as a person. And how you can apply it to the message you’re trying to convey. Understand that everyone has a style and that any style is the right style, provided you apply it properly. So, from a philosophy standpoint alone, speaking to people, interacting with people is where I am experiencing my greatest growth from Coach Carroll. “