Green Bay Packers’ head coach Matt Lafleur has connections all around the league. What many fans may not realize is the close bond coaches have across the league have with one another. That was no different this past season when LaFleur opened the door to one of the friends.
“Forever Grateful” Packers’ HC Matt LaFleur Saved Another Head Coach’s Life (Report)
When his best plans and expectations were dashed by the New York Jets, Robert Saleh sought out help from his close friend:
He was:
Stunned: It’s surprising this happened to me.
Questioning: How could this happen to me?
Healed (sort of): This shouldn’t have happened to me.
But that last part took some doing. It required Saleh taking on a role offered to him by Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur as a consultant — giving the Packers a fresh perspective on how opposing defenses might view their offense or could be attacked.
Well, the assignment served to also give Saleh a fresh perspective, which he needed.
“Yeah, you know I joke with Matt, I think it was more therapy for me than I was a help for him,” Saleh, now the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, told reporters on Thursday.
“But it was just trying to give him a defensive perspective regarding, looking from an offensive standpoint, watching the defense. Giving them thoughts on rules and what may or may not work. But I’m, again, forever grateful to Matty for opening the door to his building and allowing me the opportunity to work there just because of the, well, from a mental space.
“It was, like I said, more therapeutic than anything for me.”
Salah, 46, exited the Jets definitely needing therapy.
Aside from the fact he left with a 20-36 record five games into his fourth season, the New York experience was something of a disaster for Saleh.
the New York spotlight, failed to perform and then began to lose confidence even as coaches lost confidence in him.
Near the end of the 2023 season, after Saleh had benched Wilson but wanted to insert him back into the lineup, Wilson initially declined to start again. He was concerned about his ability to stay healthy so he could go into the offseason as a marketable backup elsewhere.
It got ugly.
(Yes, Wilson eventually played despite his concerns).
There was also that meeting Saleh had with much of the team’s football staff asking that leaks to the media cease immediately. The fact that the meeting happened and details about its contents were immediately leaked to the media.
There was the Aaron Rodgers experience that included the quarterback playing only four snaps in the 2023 season before rupturing an achilles.
