Titans working to finalize deal to make Robert Saleh next head coach: reports

The Tennessee Titans are the next team off the head coaching search board, and they will select someone with experience in that department in the NFL.

Robert Saleh, the star defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, is working to finalize a deal with the Titans to make him their next head coach, according to multiple reports.

Saleh couldn’t turn things around with the New York Jets in his 56 career games with the franchise from 2021-24, but the Titans are ready to give him another chance to mold a young roster centered around 2025 No. 1 overall pick quarterback Cam Ward.

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Saleh marks the fourth head coaching hire in this wild NFL cycle. And the three previous hires, John Harbaugh (New York Giants), Kevin Stefanski (Atlanta Falcons) and Jeff Hafley (Miami Dolphins), were all on the Titans’ interview schedule before being chosen elsewhere.

The Titans announced that Saleh and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy had in-person interviews on Monday, and it’s now clear that the 49ers coach said all the right things to make owners believe he’s the best hire.

Tennessee didn’t wait any longer and pulled the trigger on Saleh, a defensive genius with a man-leader personality who has shone in his vast coaching experience in the league.

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Saleh began entering the head coaching conversation when he got his chance as defensive coordinator under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2017. The 49ers became a great team by the 2019 campaign, where Saleh’s defense played a vital role in a trip to the Super Bowl. In the end they would lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.

After a 6-10 season in San Francisco the following year, the Jets named Saleh their next head coach, where his motto, “All gas, no brakes” became a sticking point for everyone at Florham Park.

But while the Jets’ defense became one of the best units in the game under Saleh, they were never able to break their postseason drought.

The Jets’ best record under Saleh was 7-10, which came in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. Then, after just five games in 2024, where the Jets finished 2-3, owner Woody Johnson made the decision to fire Saleh and promote defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach.

Shanahan called up Saleh to reprise his role in the Bay Area, and he had to deal with a tough situation with key players like Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, among others, out for the season due to injury.

However, Saleh and the rest of the staff coached a young 49ers defense to produce a unit that took off in the second half. The 49ers finished 13th in points allowed per game (21.8), proving to be a group on the rise as they moved toward the playoffs.

Their best victory came in the Wild Card Round, arriving in Philadelphia and defeating the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles to move on. Unfortunately, the Seattle Seahawks were too much for the 49ers, defeating them 41-6 last Saturday to end their season.

Just two days later, Saleh will move to “Music City,” where he faces a situation similar to what he saw in New York: a team desperate to turn things around as soon as possible.

Tennessee has gone 3-14 in each of the last two seasons. But they have the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft and nine total picks in April.

Additionally, the Titans have a whopping $93.5 million in cap space to spend in free agency, where general manager Mike Borgonzi can be aggressive in bolstering Saleh’s roster to compete in what is an improving AFC South conference.

This is the third job Saleh has had in the AFC South, having coached the Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the past. He was with the Jags from 2014-16 as the team’s linebackers coach before joining Shanahan in San Francisco.

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As for the NFL head coaching search, another team was added on Monday, with the surprising firing of Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott.

With four spots filled, six remain in the Bills, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.

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