The New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh and then a bit of a circus unfolded.
Or did it?
We have conflicting reports.
On Tuesday, Saleh was let go by the Jets after a 2-3 start to the season. The coach who was hired in 2021 and had a 20-36 overall record. The firing took place amid apparent disagreements with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The team had informed Saleh of their decision in a meeting which included owner Woody Johnson.
Saleh eventually left the building. That’s what happens when you’re fired. But was he escorted by security?
That was reported by NFL insider Jordan Schultz and Pro Football Talk:
My understanding is that Robert Saleh was fired this morning and then escorted out of the building by team security. There was no meeting with players to inform them or anything like that. He was in the building for work, and then he was out of the building and out of a job. https://t.co/syDwzCiXZn pic.twitter.com/BH7YjnvRN0
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 8, 2024
Jets coach Robert Saleh was escorted out of the building by the team’s director of security. (His predecessor, Adam Gase, was not.) https://t.co/wY0Uc1nR1t
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 8, 2024
Doing so seems a bit… unusual. It wouldn’t really be the best look for the Jets, either.
If that’s what happened.
Follow-up reports from ESPN and SNY then stated a bit of the opposite:
The Saleh/escorted-out-by-security story is a little off base. From what I gather, the head of security walked with him to his car, which is protocol. It’s not like they had to forcibly remove him from the premises or anything of that nature. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 8, 2024
I’m told by multiple sources that Robert Saleh was not ushered out of the team’s facility by security. #Jets
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) October 8, 2024
The two sides of the reporting seems to be clearly coming from two different sides. Pro-Saleh and Anti-Saleh. Regardless, with this one, we’ll likely never really know exactly what this situation looked like.