NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans are hiring San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their subsequent head coach, sources instructed ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday evening.
The Titans are giving Saleh a five-year contract, a supply instructed Schefter.
Saleh, the previous New York Jets coach, spent Monday in Tennessee with the Titans, and the edges impressed one another sufficient to maneuver ahead collectively, sources mentioned.
Tennessee additionally had accomplished an in-person interview with Matt Nagy on Monday.
Saleh is about to turn into the twentieth coach in Oilers/Titans historical past and the seventh because the workforce moved to Nashville in 1997. He’ll take over a workforce that fired Brian Callahan in mid-October and completed 3-14 however has a younger quarterback in Cam Ward, the No. 1 decide final 12 months.
The Titans’ brass initially scheduled a digital interview with Saleh on Sunday, nevertheless it elected to expedite the method by having him come to Nashville for an in-person assembly Monday after internet hosting Nagy, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, earlier within the day. Saleh’s go to wowed normal supervisor Mike Borgonzi and the group sufficient to sway the choice in his favor. The choice was finally Borgonzi’s however the group collectively felt Saleh was the most effective candidate.
This will probably be Saleh’s second stint as a head coach. He served because the Jets’ coach from 2021 to 2024 after a four-year run because the 49ers’ defensive coordinator that included a Tremendous Bowl look after the 2020 season.
Saleh’s time with the Jets by no means obtained on observe, although New York traded for future Corridor of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in hopes of jump-starting the coach’s third season. Rodgers ruptured his left Achilles within the 2023 season opener, and the Jets completed 7-10. The subsequent season, with Rodgers again, Saleh was fired after 5 video games. He completed with a 20-36 document in New York.
Among the many classes Saleh mentioned he realized in New York was to higher join with the entire roster, which is what he labored on throughout his second stint with the 49ers regardless of being the defensive coordinator. That coincides with a number of the traits Borgonzi has mentioned he needed within the subsequent coach.
“That individual finally has to attach all people within the constructing,” Borgonzi mentioned. “You must have that stability of being demanding, connecting individuals within the constructing and simply bringing individuals collectively.”
The Titans haven’t made the playoffs since 2021 after they have been the AFC’s prime seed and misplaced to the Cincinnati Bengals within the divisional spherical underneath former coach Mike Vrabel.
The primary order for Saleh, a defensive-minded coach, will probably be to seek out an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who may help Ward become their franchise quarterback. Tennessee averaged simply 16.7 factors this season, its second fewest because the workforce moved to Nashville.
The Titans are set to maneuver into a brand new stadium in 2027.
