Be objective

Figured I’d throw in some positivity while the entire fanbase loses their minds. It’s understandable honestly given the history of this organization, but take a second to read what I’m about to say.

I get it. This organization has historically hired old faces for several positions, and we’ve seen where that has gotten us in the previous years/decades. He’s not my first choice, not even my top 3, but this was a loaded pool for potential defensive coordinators.

For starters, too many people are holding 2020 against him. He was thrusted into a role he had never been in, never prepared to be in, and had little prep time once given the role. Not to mention the defensive talent on that 2020 team was awful. Interim coaches almost never do well because of the circumstances of why they acquired that position, and pretending that 2020 is a valid reason to be upset is disingenuous.

The Jets defense has been really good during most of his time as their DC. 2021 was awful, last in PPG with 29.6, then they were 4th in 2022 with 18.6, and 3rd in 2023 at 20.9. While the defense did fall off after Saleh was fired, I again point to my previous paragraph. It’s completely different being a head coach, and that’s compounded with all the other circumstances that comes with being an interim. Oh and by the way, the Jets still finished 20th in PPG while the Falcons finished 23rd.

Now I know what a lot of you are probably saying “The defensive success was because of Saleh.” That’s a fair assumption to make. How would you feel if I told you that Ulbrich was the defensive playcaller and not Saleh? That’s not to say that Saleh didn’t have his hand in it, but Ulbrich was the guy making the decisions on gameday, and they performed.

I’m not entirely thrilled with the hire, but this isn’t some trash hire just because he knows Raheem. It does shake my (already low) confidence in Raheem that he didn’t hire some of the better options, but it’s not like he hired someone who’s unproven like last year. Ulbrich had a great defense in New York, I don’t see why our defense doesn’t at the very least finish in the top half of the NFL next year.