Jets' Robert Saleh has taken pieces of the respected coaches he's worked with and become a respected coach himself

SEATTLE — Robert Saleh was in his early 30s, married with an infant child and unemployed. He didn’t know where his next check was coming from or whether his NFL journey had ended.

Then Saleh’s phone rang. On the other end of this “lucky, lucky phone call,” in Saleh's words, was then-Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Saleh interviewed with Bradley and Pete Carroll in the winter of 2011 and eventually was hired as the Seahawks' defensive quality control coach.

“I had a 3-month-old at the time, my wife and I, and she’s panicking because she’s wondering where our next meal is coming from,” Saleh said. “I didn’t have a contract, and the good Lord came off the top ropes and sent me a blessing.”

Saleh credits his three years in Seattle — and Carroll’s influence — for helping to mold him into the coach and person he’s become. Now Saleh has returned to Seattle  for the first time as a head coach, needing a win over one of his mentors to keep the Jets’ narrow playoff hopes alive.

The Jets have to win out — at Seattle on Sunday and at Miami on Jan. 8 — and hope the Patriots lose or tie one of their remaining two games. If the Jets can beat the Seahawks and Carroll, Saleh will have to try to knock off another old coaching pal, Mike McDaniel. The two worked together in San Francisco.

It’s funny how fate has worked for Saleh.

He had been fired as the Texans' assistant linebackers coach after the 2010 season and no one was beating down his door trying to give him his next opportunity. He might have been forced to return to the business world and put his finance degree to use.

If not for Bradley’s call, Saleh -— now 43 and with seven children with his wife Sanaa — might not be the coach of the Jets. Saleh’s time in Seattle helped springboard him to becoming one of the most sought-after coaches.

“Just being with that coaching staff when I was there, Pete, Gus Bradley, Dan Quinn, Ken Norton Jr., even Kris Richard and Rocky Seto, just very impactful people for me,” Saleh said. “For a young man, I was early 30s just begging for an answer or begging for an avenue or a guide. To be flooded with those people, with that staff with the diversity of that staff and the philosophies, it was a godsend.”

Saleh was part of Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense that won a Super Bowl. He then reached the Super Bowl as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco.

Now in his second season as Jets coach, Saleh has the team ahead of schedule. They have struggled of late, losing their last four games, but the Jets were not expected to be in the playoff race this season.

Carroll is not surprised by Saleh’s rise.

“Seeing Robert Saleh bring his team here, it’s pretty cool to see that happen,” Carroll said. “I have a lot of respect for Robert and what he has done and how he’s taken care of business. He’s a great person in character, leadership and toughness and all that. It’s great to see him.”

Carroll, of course, has a history with the Jets. He spent three seasons as the Jets’ defensive coordinator and one as head coach in the early 1990s. He has always been known as a players’ coach. Saleh is too.

As fiery and passionate as Saleh is, he doesn’t scream at his players, which is something he picked up from Carroll.

Saleh referenced Carroll’s book “Win Forever,” in which he details what he told one of his coaches at USC: "You don’t have to yell. You can be yourself.’' That was something Saleh experienced firsthand in Seattle and has brought with him wherever he’s gone.

He referred to Carroll and Bradley — now the Colts' defensive coordinator — as “two philosophers” who challenged everyone “to figure out who we were as individuals and to be confident in your skin.”

“One of the greatest learning lessons that I got is that I can be a little bit of Pete, little bit of Gus, Ken Norton Jr., Gary Kubiak, all the great coaches that I’ve been around, Kyle Shanahan, and I can try to mold myself into that,” Saleh said. “Everything will be great when we’re winning, but as soon as adversity hits, my true character is going to reveal itself, and if I’m not truly connected to that person that hits in adversity, then there’s going to be a disconnect that breaks trust.

“To be in that building and to have the confidence that I can be myself and still be a good football coach, I don’t have to project as something else, was a tremendous tool that he gave us all.”

Adversity has hit the Jets and Saleh has handled it well. He’s a “silver lining” person and never wavers in his belief in himself, his coaches and players. Saleh looks at everything the Jets are going through as a learning experience — for him too.

Saleh held himself accountable for mismanaging the clock in a loss to the Lions in Week 15. He said he overthought the situation and cost the Jets a snap and perhaps valuable yards by not using one of his timeouts. Greg Zuerlein missed a potential tying 58-yard field goal as time expired.

That admission left an impression on Saleh’s players.

“I love Saleh,” tight end C.J. Uzomah said. “Any time you see your coach going out to bat and putting things on his shoulders, I love to see that. I love playing for him because of that and I want to put my best foot forward not only for the team but for the coach as well.''

Rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner said the players watch how Saleh carries himself and follow his lead.

“Being able to take responsibility in public, that’s big right there because most head coaches kind of cover their behind for something,” Gardner said. “The fact that he can do something like that, that shows he’s a great leader for sure.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.