It wasn’t even 48 hours ago that Mike Francesa said that Woody Johnson wasn’t smart enough to fire Robert Saleh (or Nathaniel Hackett).
Now, we doubt the owner of the New York Jets is listening to a live reaction show edition of The Mike Francesa Podcast, but we know that he reads headlines — and listens to what Jets fans have to say on X (formerly Twitter). But Johnson, who had never fired a head coach in-season before, took the road less traveled and sent Saleh packing just nine months after he should’ve fired him in the first place.
The Jets could be sitting pretty with Mike Vrabel leading a soon-to-be 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, but Johnson opted to bring Saleh back. After five games and back-to-back losses, the Jets axed Saleh right after Francesa said that Johnson wasn’t smart, nor was he a good football decision-maker.
Both of those things might be true, but this is a deviation from the norm for how Johnson (and the organization) operates. You don’t have to tell fans of a team with the longest active playoff drought in North American professional sports that this franchise and dysfunction go together like peanut butter and jelly.
And no matter how much of a circus this move is, Gang Green’s current quarterback situation gives it a short competitive window.
Johnson didn’t care about the dysfunction here, opting to do anything — like firing his head coach five games into the season — to salvage what’s left of a 12-game schedule with a wide-open AFC East.
Now, back to Francesa, who can add running Saleh out of town to the mantle, along with Ben McAdoo and pushing the Mets to trade for Mike Piazza. It’s not like Francesa has the same pull he once was, and a former radio host calling for a head coach to be fired amidst a 20-36 record isn’t exactly going out on a limb, but there’s just something too rich about Francesa questioning Johnson’s intelligence, only for Johnson to do what he said he wouldn’t not two days later.
“But I’m telling you, if I were the owner, Saleh wouldn’t be the coach anymore,” Francesa said following Sunday’s 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. “In-season, I can’t look at it anymore. I just can’t watch the same garbage week in and week out.”
Neither could Johnson.
“I wouldn’t touch the defensive coordinator (Jeff Ulbrich), I wouldn’t touch the staff, but I would get rid of Saleh because he’s not a head coach anyway. If he wants to take a demotion to defensive coordinator, he can stay. He can’t be the head coach.
“He can’t run the team, because there has to be a new order for this team, there has to be accountability for this team. And I would immediately fire the offensive coordinator — immediately. Goodbye! Enough already. I don’t care what Rodgers says. ‘Oh, really? You like throwing three interceptions? Do you like getting hit on every play-action fake? You like the fact that your career isn’t going to look like the same career if you keep this guy. You’re out. I’m making the decision, you’re not.'”
And after Francesa demanded accountability, that same sentiment came to a head when All-Pro linebacker Quincy Williams made waves. He’s quickly and not so quietly become one of the faces of the team’s defense, but he isn’t as brash as a Rodgers or Sauce Gardner, so when he said what he did Sunday, perhaps Johnson took notice — and smartened up.
“People gotta start taking accountability. People get tired of hearing the same thing every week.
Quincy Williams with @JeaneCoakley after the Jets’ loss in London: pic.twitter.com/eta4j5b4OI
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 6, 2024
“It is not going to get better,” said Francesa. “They won’t change anything because Woody’s not smart enough — he’s just not. From a football standpoint, he is not smart enough or bold enough. You’d have to be an owner who has a clue, and he doesn’t. And that organization doesn’t know how to do anything right.”
Woody Johnson, a man who just a couple of days ago was labeled “not smart enough” by Francesa, has made a decision that might actually make him look a bit smarter—at least for the moment.
After years of maintaining the status quo, he finally showed some initiative by sending Saleh packing. But let’s not kid ourselves here; Johnson’s track record doesn’t inspire confidence that this was some sort of epiphany.
So, while Francesa might not have the same clout he once did, he clearly still knows how to hit the right nerve. Whether it was his words ringing in Johnson’s ears or just the sheer desperation of Jets fans, Woody finally made a move that left us all a bit stunned.