Robert Saleh looks the part of a head coach that knows what he’s doing. Now we’ll get to see if he has the goods required to do the job.
My early observations of the new head coach of the Jets are he’s all about positive energy, giving full effort, and embracing what comes with the job. These are all prerequisites for the position, but Saleh appears to have them already mastered.
We’ve only seen a small sample size of the 42-year-old former defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers in his new role. No one needs to tell him this is only the beginning.
The NFL Draft and OTAs came and went, so did the veteran minicamp. And now Saleh is ready to oversee his first training camp as an NFL head coach.
When asked by reporters Wednesday morning what was his mindset heading into camp, Saleh went with a familiar word to describe it.
“Excitement,” Saleh said in a word. “This is going to be a fun group to work with. It’s young, it’s hungry, and they’ve all got a positive attitude come out of minicamp. They’re all excited to get another shot at going through the installs again, showing what they can do and can’t do. And it’s going to be a really cool process to go through over the course of the next week. I’m really excited about all these practices.”
The Jets, Saleh, and one roller coaster of an offseason
There’s excitement within this team’s fanbase for the new chapter Saleh is helping write. It’s a mostly young roster with enough potential to provide a healthy amount of intrigue when the regular season kicks off in September.
The Jets are coming off a 2-14 season which led to a much-needed parting of ways with head coach Adam Gase.
The offseason ramped up with Saleh’s hiring and then the trade of quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers.
Gears switched again when Zach Wilson was selected with the number two overall pick in the draft as the team’s new franchise quarterback.
Now finally, Saleh can take the next step in his preparation for the upcoming season.
Embracing adversity
One of the bullet points which comes with the job is showing an ability to work through adversity. It’s a part of the job Saleh appears more than ready to embrace.
“Everything’s been awesome,” Saleh recently told Albert Breer of SI.com when describing his first few months on the job and what’s ahead. “Call it the greatest honeymoon in the world, if you want. It’s been great. But I’m genuinely excited for adversity. Because a lot of different things are going to pop up. There are coaches that are going to find out about themselves. There’s the scouts and the G.M., there’s myself, the players, the training staff. Everybody’s going to find out a little more about themselves when adversity hits.
“I think that’s when teams have their greatest amount of growth—it’s through adversity. And so, with training camp, that’s what I’m most excited for. I wanna see how people respond.”
And we want to see how the Jets respond to Saleh, not just off the field and in the locker room with his enthusiasm – but on the field with his leadership and execution. Because that’s where it matters most.
Image: Charles Wenzelberg
