Bill Belichick laid into New York Jets owner Woody Johnson on Monday night over his decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh last week.
Belichick, speaking with Peyton and Eli Manning on the alternate broadcast during the Jets’ game with the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, absolutely ripped Johnson.
“It seemed quite early to me to be making a coaching change,” Manning said.
“Yeah, well look, that’s kind of what it’s been there at the Jets,” Belichick responded. “They’ve barely won over 30% in the last 10 years. The owner being the owner, just ready, fire, aim.”
The Jets fired Saleh officially on Wednesday, just five games into the season. Saleh was hired ahead of the 2021 campaign in what was his first head coaching job in the league. He finished with just a 20-36 record and never had a winning season. The Jets promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to serve as the interim head coach for the time being.
The decision to fire Saleh now caught plenty of people in the NFL world by surprise. Johnson, however, simply said he felt Saleh wasn’t meeting expectations.
“This is one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled by the New York Jets,” Johnson said last week. “I want to give the team the most opportunity to win this season, [so] I feel like we had to go in a different direction.”
Though firing a coach in-season is something that can be debated, and we’ll see how that plays out for the Jets in due time, Belichick’s pointed criticism of Johnson was a bit stunning considering he both used to work for the organization and spent more than two decades competing against Johnson while leading the New England Patriots.
Johnson purchased the Jets in 2000, which was the same year that Belichick took over in New England after a stint at the Jets’ defensive coordinator. In that time, Belichick — with the help of quarterback Tom Brady — won six Super Bowls and 17 division titles. The Jets have won the AFC East just a single time and made six playoff appearances over that same span. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010, either, and have gone eight seasons now without a winning record.
Belichick and the Patriots split earlier this year, and he’s now transitioned into a media role with ESPN. Naturally, that’s going to lead to more hot takes from the head coach who was known for his relatively quiet demeanor.
When it comes to how the Jets are being run, though, Belichick thought Saleh was doing a fine job.
“I’m not a big Jets fan, in case you don’t know that … Coach Saleh did a good job with that program,” Belichick said. “He brought in a culture, a level of toughness and competitiveness … I thought he did a pretty good job with this team, and they’re probably not that far away from winning.”