Titans Hire Robert Saleh as New Head Coach to Lead Team into the Future

The NFL head coach carousel is in full swing.

The Tennessee Titans are the next team to find their new leader. Robert Saleh, most recently the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, is now the Titans’ new head coach.

He will now be tasked with helping Cam Ward develop and getting the rest of the team to improve as well. The Titans’ defense struggled mightily for most of the season. That’s why hiring a defensive mind like Saleh looks like a great move.

The Titans’ higher-ups seem to have faith in Saleh’s project, giving him a 5-year contract.

Saleh has prior head-coaching experience with the New York Jets from 2021 until Week 5 in 2024. His best finish was 7-10, which he achieved twice. He was fired after Week 5 in 2024.

Before his Jets gig, Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator from 2017-2020, and then again in 2025, after the Jets let him go.

Before his time as a coordinator or head coach, Saleh worked under various defensive coaching titles at Michigan State, Central Michigan, and Georgia in college football, and with the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, and Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL.

Speaking of the Jaguars, Saleh has some interesting history with Jags coach Liam Coen.

Earlier this season, the 49ers took on the Jaguars. Before the game, Saleh accused the Jags, and Coen specifically, of using an advanced, albeit legal, signal-stealing system.

After the game, the two exchanged pleasantries and expletives and had to be separated by players and staff from both teams.

The Titans and Jaguars rivalry just got way spicier. Time will tell whether the two men will clash again or have smoothed over their differences by the time their teams meet next season.

Regardless, Titans’ fans will appreciate their new coaches’ disdain for their hated divisional rival. Saleh will feel right at home in Nashville.

As for the football itself, Saleh should help the Titans’ defense improve, while also helping Cam Ward continue to develop. Hopefully, he will also help bring in some better players on both sides of the ball. The Titans have a top 5 pick and a ton of cap space to work with in free agency.

It’s a new dawn in Tennessee, with Robert Saleh set to lead the Titans to a (hopefully) better and brighter future.

Welcome to the team, Coach.