The Jets have not had a head coach who focused on more than one side of the ball in a while.
For Todd Bowles and Rex Ryan, it was defense. Both left the direction of New York’s offense up to their respective offensive coordinators and seldom focused on anything but their defensive responsibilities. The roles were reversed under Adam Gase, as he left Gang Green’s defense up to Gregg Williams — and Frank Bush after Williams was fired at the end of last season — and kept his nose buried in his uninspiring offensive playbook.
Robert Saleh is a defensive mind, but he is approaching his first NFL head-coaching job with a desire to be involved in all three facets of the game. Even though defense is where Saleh’s heart truly lies, he is adjusting to no longer rooting for just that side of the ball in his first minicamp with the Jets.
“I messed with the players the other day. I said, ‘Hey, I’m rolling with whoever has the best day, so it doesn’t matter to me, ‘” Saleh said Tuesday. “I’m just a fan of whoever’s doing great.
“To sit back and have an appreciation for all three phases and the work that’s being put in and really getting a chance to listen to the coaches coach and the coordinators interacting with not only players, but coaches, and just making sure everything is going the way you want it to go, obviously, it’s an adjustment and it’s been different. But both have been an awesome experience.”
Evening out his rooting interests is not the only adjustment Saleh has had to make during his first spring as a head coach. Navigating the waters of an offseason is much different as a coordinator and Saleh has had to learn the best way to run the show on the fly.
Nonetheless, New York’s rookie head coach has made the most of the situation thanks to the support system in place at One Jets Drive.
“It’s been great,” Saleh said. “We’ve been very fortunate. We have a tremendous staff and sports staff. Joe [Douglas] and his staff have been very receptive. They’ve been awesome. The players are such great character individuals and I mean that. You see it on the practice field, they’ve got a lot of energy. There’s a lot of positivity to them.
“There’s a lot of juice in the building. This spring has been fantastic and we’re looking forward to training camp. I really am. I’m excited to see adversity. I’m excited to see how we can handle it and see where we’re at from that regard, because, like I’ve said, that’s where character reveals itself.”
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