Bill Belichick: Woody Johnson has 'always been difficult to predict'

Bill Belichick stepped down as “HC of the NYC” many years ago, presumably because he had no interest in working for the team's owner, Woody Johnson.

In the latest episode of the Let's go! PodcastOne of Belichick's many media platforms in 2024, the six-time Super Bowl winner commented on Woody's decision last week to let coach Robert Saleh go.

“It just seemed a little early to me to pull the trigger on this issue,” Belichick said. “But not untypical for the owner. Woody has always been difficult to predict what he will do. Some of it is just hard to understand, but I think Saleh did a good job there. He brought a strong culture to the defense and obviously wasn’t quite there yet, but with the season still ahead of us, seemed like a premature move.”

Almost a week after Woody fired Saleh, the prevailing view is that Woody (who was not in charge when Saleh was hired) simply wanted to go in a different direction. Whether it made sense or not.

“It’s one of the best defensive teams in the league,” Belichick added. “Robert made them like that. They were 32nd in his first year and were consistently in the top five and top three in most categories.” So he's done a great job on that side of the ball. And then they had some problems at quarterback, and now Aaron (Rodgers) is back, but he hasn't played football for a year.

If Rodgers didn't agree with the decision, he didn't say so. And there were no leaks suggesting he was against it. Perhaps after his time with the Jets ends, he'll share more about whether the move left a sour taste in his mouth.

This is certainly true for Saleh. With a win tonight, the Jets will be tied for first place in the AFC East. While the interim coach change might be enough, it remains to be seen whether the change will make the Jets better in 2024.

And as the names of potential permanent (as permanent as the Jets have ever been) successors to Saleh emerge, Belichick being hired would be an even bigger shock than Saleh's firing.