Dan Patrick: “How did we get to this point, Brian?’
Brian Costello: “This season there were such high expectations for the Jets with Aaron Rodgers coming back, lots of Super Bowl talk, and they’ve looked bad the last two weeks. It was a one-point loss to Denver and if Greg Zuerlein makes a 50-yard field goal maybe things are different. They had 15 penalties in that game, 13 that were accepted, five false starts -- there was clamoring and the fans started to get restless, and I think Woody Johnson listens to the fans. I think he spends a lot of time on Twitter, and I think he has people in his family do too. You can’t overlook the game being in London on Sunday. He was the ambassador to the United Kingdom, he’s got a lot of friends over there; I’m sure he was embarrassed by the way they played, and it probably played a factor in this as well.”
DP: “So, you’re surprised?”
Costello: “I’m surprised. After last week I was asked by a bunch of people on different shows... They have a stretch where they have three stand-alone games in a row. They were on NFL Network Sunday morning, they play Monday Night Football against the Bills, and then they play Sunday Night Football in Pittsburgh. So that’s three games where you have a national audience. I said ‘if they lose those three games, then he’s in trouble’, because then all the morning shows are talking about him, everyone is talking about it, and then something could happen. But the Jets haven’t changed coaches mid-season since 1976 when Lou Holtz quit. Rich Kotite was the coach and they went 1-15. Adam Gase was the coach and they started 0-13. Todd Bowles’ last season [in New York] there were calls to fire him mid-season and everyone knew he was gone, but it hasn’t happened.
This is surprising because this is not the way they have operated in a long, long time. There was a case that Saleh should have been fired last year but he kind of got a mulligan because Aaron Rodgers missed the whole season. But you could tell talking to Woody Johnson before the season, he was basically saying ‘this is it, this is your last chance’. I think he entered on shaky ground, and then things just got shakier in the last two weeks. I talked to a couple players this morning and they’re pretty surprised. They didn’t see this coming. My issue with this is that the offense has been the problem. Saleh is a defensive coach. The defense gave up 10 points the Broncos, and 16 points to the Vikings – one touchdown was a pick-6. The defense hasn’t been the problem.”
DP: “Do you think Woody Johnson gave Aaron Rodgers a heads up before this happened?”
Costello: “I would think he probably would have. If he didn’t run it by him, that’s an interesting decision.”
Listen to Jets beat reporter Brian Costello of the New York Post join The Dan Patrick Show to discuss the abrupt firing of New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, and give his reasoning on why Jets owner Woody Johnson would go nuclear on the former coveted coaching candidate.
Check out the segment above as Costello details why Johnson was ‘embarrassed’ by their nationally televised loss in London on Sunday morning to the Vikings, and says Johnson became incensed with the stench Saleh was starting to give off to the fans and national media.
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