New York Jets coach Robert Saleh has been on the job for three weeks, but he already has set himself apart from Adam Gase in at least one respect: coaching-staff composition.
Saleh's staff, almost complete, is a reunion of sorts -- a collection of coaching colleagues from each of his previous NFL stops. In fact, 11 of his 13 hires for key positions -- coordinators and position coaches -- are coaches he worked with previously. This is a common practice in the industry, but Saleh has taken it to a new level.
In most cases, familiarity is a good thing, especially for a team in transition. If nothing else, it shows Saleh was hands-on during the process, choosing his guys.
That's noteworthy, considering the Jets were criticized in 2019 when the front office scared away head-coaching candidate Matt Rhule because it wanted to pick his staff for him. Rhule was a college coach at the time, and there were concerns about his ability to gather an NFL staff.
The front office also had input into Gase's staff, creating an arranged marriage between him and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who had a big say on some of the defensive hires. In the end, Gase assembled a highly experienced group of coaches, nearly half of whom had no previous ties to him.
That dynamic no longer exists. This is the Saleh ensemble. The upside is they speak the same football language and share a similar philosophy. The downside is that it might limit different ideas.
"One of the most impressive things through the interview process regarding Robert and his staff was just his thought process on the composition of the staff and how he was thinking about different personalities and different roles," Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. "You really walked away saying, 'Wow, Robert has really thought this out the right way.' I would say that was as impressive as any name that he brought up."
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Saleh's staff, almost complete, is a reunion of sorts -- a collection of coaching colleagues from each of his previous NFL stops. In fact, 11 of his 13 hires for key positions -- coordinators and position coaches -- are coaches he worked with previously. This is a common practice in the industry, but Saleh has taken it to a new level.
In most cases, familiarity is a good thing, especially for a team in transition. If nothing else, it shows Saleh was hands-on during the process, choosing his guys.
That's noteworthy, considering the Jets were criticized in 2019 when the front office scared away head-coaching candidate Matt Rhule because it wanted to pick his staff for him. Rhule was a college coach at the time, and there were concerns about his ability to gather an NFL staff.
The front office also had input into Gase's staff, creating an arranged marriage between him and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who had a big say on some of the defensive hires. In the end, Gase assembled a highly experienced group of coaches, nearly half of whom had no previous ties to him.
That dynamic no longer exists. This is the Saleh ensemble. The upside is they speak the same football language and share a similar philosophy. The downside is that it might limit different ideas.
"One of the most impressive things through the interview process regarding Robert and his staff was just his thought process on the composition of the staff and how he was thinking about different personalities and different roles," Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. "You really walked away saying, 'Wow, Robert has really thought this out the right way.' I would say that was as impressive as any name that he brought up."
Jets' revamped coaching staff: 'Frisco' flavor, old friends and new approach
Robert Saleh has assembled a collection of colleagues from his previous NFL stops who speak the same football language and share a similar philosophy.
