BREAKING: Jaguars Complete Interview With Former Jets HC Robert Saleh

The Jacksonville Jaguars have now completed their fifth interview of the head coach cycle.
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh reacts after a touchdown late in the fourth quarter puts the Jets over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets defeat the Bengals, 34-31, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in East Rutherford.

Nyj Vs Cin
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh reacts after a touchdown late in the fourth quarter puts the Jets over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets defeat the Bengals, 34-31, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in East Rutherford. Nyj Vs Cin / Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially interviewed half of their candidate pool.

The Jaguars announced Tuesday a completed interview with former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, their fifth completed interview so far.

In addition to Saleh, the Jaguars have also held interviews with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

Saleh is an interesting candidate for the Jaguars job for a few reasons. For one, he is one of just three members of the Jaguars' requested coaching pool who has been a head coach in the NFL before.

Saleh finished his tenure with the New York Jets with a 20–36 (.357) regular season record and was fired in 2024 after a 2-3 start. The Jets completely collapsed following his firing, however, which bodes well for his candidacy.

There is also the fact that Saleh has actually worked with the Jaguars during the Shad Khan era. Saleh was the Jaguars' linebackers coach from 2014-16, ultimately becoming a defensive coordinator in 2017 and moving on.

Khan will be assisted in the search for Pederson's replacement by general manager Trent Baalke, a repeat of the team's process in 2022.

Khan has fired five head coaches during his tenure as owner -- Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone, Urban Meyer, and Pederson. Of that group, only Bradley was a defensive-minded coach.

The Jaguars still have yet to hold interviews with five of their other head coach candidates: Liam Coen, Brian Flores, Joe Brady, Todd Monken, and Kellen Moore.

According to The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt, there seems to be some buzz that Saleh has a legit shot at the Jaguars job.

"This one might feel like it’s out of left field, but there’s some real buzz about Saleh’s chances of securing this job," Rosenblatt said. "Saleh might have been helped by Jets owner Woody Johnson’s decision to fire him in Week 5, especially because of what happened afterward. The Jets were significantly worse after interim coach Jeff Ulbrich took over, particularly on defense, where Saleh had built the Jets into one of the league’s Top-5 defenses in both 2022 and ’23."

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.


Published
John Shipley
JOHN SHIPLEY

John Shipley has been covering the Jacksonville Jaguars as a beat reporter and publisher of Jaguar Report since 2019. Previously, he covered UCF's undefeated season as a beat reporter for NSM.Today, covered high school prep sports in Central Florida, and covered local sports and news for the Palatka Daily News. Follow John Shipley on Twitter at @_john_shipley.