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The Tennessee Titans are the next team to come off the head coaching search board, and they will be joining forces with someone with experience in that department in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers star defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is working to finalize a deal with the Titans to make him their next head coach, according to multiple reports.
Saleh failed to turn things around with the New York Jets in his 56 career games with the franchise from 2021-2024, but the Titans are willing to give him another chance to build a young team centered around 2025’s No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Cam Ward.
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San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh talks with linebacker Fred Warner (54) during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on September 7, 2025. (Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images)
Saleh marks the fourth head coaching hire in this wild NFL cycle. And the three previous rookies – John Harbaugh (New York Giants), Kevin Stefanski (Atlanta Falcons) and Jeff Hafley (Miami Dolphins) – were all on the Titans’ interview schedule before being drafted elsewhere.
The Titans announced that Saleh and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy had in-person talks Monday, and it’s clear the 49ers coach has now said all the right things to make owners believe he’s the top hire.
Tennessee couldn’t wait any longer and they pulled the trigger on Saleh, a defensive genius with a man-leader personality that shined through his extensive 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 starting in the 2019 campaign, where Saleh’s defense played a vital role in a trip to the Super Bowl. They would ultimately lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.
After a 6-10 season in San Francisco the following year, the Jets made Saleh their next head coach, where his motto “All Gas, No Brakes” became a sticking point for everyone at Florham Park.
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh is shown at MetLife Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. (Kevin R. Wexler/USA TODAY NETWORK)
But even though the Jets defense became one of the best units in the sport under Saleh’s tutelage, they were never able to end their playoff drought.
The Jets’ best record under Saleh was 7-10, in consecutive seasons in 2022 and 2023. Then, after just five games in 2024, where the Jets went 2-3, owner Woody Johnson made the call to fire Saleh and promote defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim head coach.
Shanahan came calling for Saleh to reprise his role in the Bay Area, and he had a tough hand with key players Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, among others, lost for the season due to injury.
However, a young 49ers defense was coached by Saleh and the rest of the staff 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 headed into the playoffs.
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh reacts against the Minnesota Vikings in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Their best win came in the Wild Card Round, traveling to Philadelphia and beating the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles to move on. Unfortunately, the Seattle Seahawks were too strong for the 49ers, knocking them out 41-6 last Saturday to end their season.
Just two days later, Saleh moves to “Music City”, where he faces a similar situation to the one he saw in New York: a team desperate to turn things around as soon as possible.
Tennessee is 3-14 in each of the last two seasons. But they have the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft and nine picks overall 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 for competition in what is an improving AFC South conference.
This is Saleh’s third job in the AFC South, having coached the Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars in the past. He played with the Jags from 2014-16 as the team’s linebackers coach before joining Shanahan in San Francisco.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh of the San Francisco 49ers stands on the field before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
As for the NFL head coaching search, another team was added Monday, with the surprising firing of Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
With four spots filled, there are six left in the Bills, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.
