Around this time four years ago, Robert Saleh was considered one of the hottest coaching candidates in the NFL. He had guided a potent San Francisco 49ers defense to a Super Bowl appearance against the Kansas City Chiefs, and had advanced the careers of several premier players such as Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. When it was announced that Saleh had been hired by the New York Jets to be their head coach, it was expected that he would turn the team around and guide them to postseason. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse and Saleh was fired by the Jets after a 2-3 start to the 2024 season.

The Dallas Cowboys, after parting ways with Mike McCarthy, are searching for their next head coach. While many high-profile ex-Cowboys have been linked to the job in Dallas, Saleh is the first mention of an actual interview in the future with the team. As has been reported by Josina Anderson, the Cowboys are further along in the process in their coaching search as it would appear publicly,

We wanted to know more about the man who potentially could take over as the new coach of the Cowboys, and what happened with Jets and how Saleh would fit in Dallas. To provide a unique take on that, Thomas Christopher from SB Nation’s Gang Green Nation assessed Saleh and his prospects as coach of the Dallas Cowboys based on our questions.

Q: First off, what’s your understanding of what went wrong with Robert Saleh and the Jets? After their road win in 2022 in Green Bay, it seemed like an upward turning point for the organization until everything came crashing down.

Thomas Christopher (TC): The demise of Robert Saleh comes down to two things: The first was owner Woody Johnson. When you have an owner with little football knowledge consistently meddling in personnel decisions with the roster and coaching staff, it becomes hard to instill in everyone else that you are the team’s leader, let alone mold the team how he wants to.

This brings me to the second factor: Saleh’s inability to hold players accountable. With the Jets, Saleh desperately wanted to be liked by both the media and the players. So much so that he would never hold those responsible for mistakes accountable for said mistakes; often, this led to repeat offenders consistently underperforming. There were signs of this happening in 2023, but this season is where we really saw it happen.

Q: The relationship between Saleh and Aaron Rodgers was much publicized. Are the rumors of Saleh and Rodgers being at opposing sides true and did Saleh clash with any other prominent players?

TC: At the end of the day, Rodgers and Saleh did have different philosophies on how to win. We saw them butt heads in the season and little things that stood out (utilization of presnap movement). Outside of Rodgers, though, there were no incidents that I can recall of Saleh having drama with players. He’s genuinely a player’s coach, to a fault.

Q: What Cowboys defensive players or position groups would thrive the most by having Saleh as head coach?

TC: The edge rushers and linebackers see the most significant gain. Saleh has a way of getting these players to perform at an elite level. Whether it was Bryce Huff, Quincy Williams, or Jamien Sherwood, it comes as little surprise as that is Saleh’s bread and butter. The cornerback group will improve, too. The way Saleh’s scheme is set up takes the pressure off the back end and allows them to play freely. The turnovers didn’t happen for the Jets because their defensive backs were risk-averse, but that wouldn’t be an issue on another team.

Q: What can Cowboys fans expect from Saleh as a head coach as far as a game manager? Is he more the conservative type to hand the game to his defense or is he willing to put the ball in quarterback’s hands to win the game?

TC: It’s hard to say because Saleh really didn’t have a quarterback of Dak’s caliber (outside of 5 games with Rodgers). Philosophy-wise, Saleh was pretty conservative with the Jets, where he would instead rely on his defense not to lose games than his offense to try and win them. Yet in an offense with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, it’s difficult to determine if he would remain that conservative.

Q: Although Woody Johnson doesn’t have the same visibility in the national media as Jerry Jones, he is still one of the more active owners in terms of public relations. Did that ever create a conflict with Saleh and would he work well with an owner like Jerry Jones that is forefront of the team as much as he is?

TC: Woody Johnson definitely created conflict for Saleh, whether that involved meddling with his roster, his coaches, or the comments he’d make in the media. The end of Saleh’s tenure, even dating to last year, showed that their relationship was not as friendly as it appeared in the press. Yet, I think Saleh would work better with Jerry Jones because of Jerry’s experience within the league.

While Jerry also has a history of meddling and/or contradiction within the media, Saleh is still a malleable person as far as coaches go. He’s very happy-go-lucky in the sense that he wants to be liked and successful – two things Jerry also wants. The brand of the Cowboys themselves could also help in this regard. People still consider Jerry a legend in the sport, whereas Woody Johnson has never given anything more than the characteristics of being a poser.

Q: In your honest opinion, is Saleh capable of leading a team to a Super Bowl victory?

TC: With the Jets, I had issues with Saleh, mainly because of his inability to hold people accountable. However, most coaches really tend to fix their mistakes in their second tenure – look at Todd Bowles, another HC who flamed out in New York. On top of that, Saleh is genuinely one of the best defensive minds in the NFL – and has a good eye for talent regarding his coaching staff.

Saleh is a better version of the aforementioned Bowles, where playoffs are the floor with the current Cowboys’ team. While it’s impossible to say he’d make a Super Bowl, I would like his odds to do so.