Did Robert Saleh play football? Inside Jets HC’s rise in NFL

Robert Saleh has been the recipient of sympathy this season as the New York Jets coach has had to deal with a sputtering offense ever since losing Aaron Rodgers during the first game of the season. The Jets' problems ever since he has been there in New York, and even before, has been the lack of a good quarterback to execute the plays. They thought they had solved that problem after acquiring the four-time NFL MVP from the Green Bay Packers, but then disaster struck.

That has allowed him to avoid criticism of his actual record for the season. They are already eliminated from the playoffs. But as they faced the Cleveland Browns on the final Thursday Night Football game of the season, he came under more scrutiny. The Jets had Joe Flacco last year and did not get him back despite Rodgers' injury. But the Browns did sign him and he has more-than-ably deputized for Deshaun Watson. The first quarter saw New York trailing 34-17 to Cleveland.

That brought the question of whether Robert Saleh has playing experience in the NFL. And he does not have any. Instead, he has been a career coach throughout his life. He did play college football for Northern Michigan University, though, earning all-conference honors as a tight end. After finishing his program in 2001, he moved to earning his coaching badges.

Robert Saleh's Rise to Current Jets Role: A look back at his coaching career

Robert Saleh became an assistant coach with the Michigan State football program. He was an assistant on both sides of the ball. As an offensive assistant in 2002, he coached the tight ends, the same position he played. While he was the defensive assistant in 2003, he took charge of training the defensive linemen.

It was his role as a defensive assistant that was noticed and he moved over to Central Michigan in the same position in 2004. He was noticed by Georgia and they appointed him as the linebackers coach in 2005.

Coaching with one of the top college programs in the country saw him get his first NFL look. He was given the chance by Gary Kubiak in 2006 to become the defensive quality control coach for the Houston Texans. He remained in that role until 2008, before being promoted to assistant linebackers coach in 2009. He remained part of that unit until 2010.

That is when he moved to the Seattle Seahawks as the defensive quality control coach. He was there from 2011 to 2013 as part of the legendary 'Legion of Boom' defense, winning a Super Bowl with them. That caught the eye of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who appointed him as the linebackers coach in 2014.

After finishing his stint there in 2016, he returned to the West Coast in 2017, this time with the San Francisco 49ers. He was appointed the defensive coordinator for the first time in his career and he was part of the franchise as they reached a Super Bowl.

That was enough for him to catch the eye of the Jets hiring staff, who appointed him in 2021. In doing so, he broke a barrier by becoming the first Muslim head coach in league history.

Robert Saleh has always shown his defensive nous

Even though Robert Saleh played as a tight end, he was made his name as a defensive coach. That shows in his Jets record as well. They were one of the best defenses last year, allowing 311.1 yards per game. This year they had allowed less than 300 yards per game through 15 games and were ranked the third-best in that metric.

But the problem, as always, remains the offensive side of the ball. They have their quarterback and this year they must take time to fix their offensive line so that Aaron Rodgers does not get injured again. And once that is done, Robert Saleh will not have any more excuses to fail and he may be able to show his worth as a head coach.