Sources: Titans finalizing deal to make Saleh coach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans are working to finalize a deal to hire San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday night.

Saleh, the former New York Jets coach, spent Monday in Tennessee with the Titans, and the two sides impressed each other enough to move forward together, sources said.

Tennessee also had completed an in-person interview with Matt Nagy on Monday.

Saleh is set to become the 20th coach in Oilers/Titans history, and the seventh since the team moved to Nashville in 1997. He’ll take over a team that fired Brian Callahan in mid-October and ended up finishing 3-14 but is armed with a young quarterback in Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick last year.

The Titans’ brass was originally scheduled to have a virtual interview with Saleh on Sunday, but it elected to expedite the process by having him come to Nashville for an in-person meeting Monday after hosting Nagy, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, earlier in the day.

Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi had leaned toward Nagy given their time together in Kansas City, where Borgonzi had been assistant GM. However, encouragement from team ownership pushed the decision to Saleh, according to a source.

This will be Saleh’s second stint as a head coach. He served as the Jets’ coach from 2021 to 2024 after a four-year run as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator that included a Super Bowl appearance after the 2020 season.

Saleh’s time with the Jets never got on track, even though New York traded for future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in hopes of jumpstarting the coach’s third season. Rodgers ruptured his left Achilles in the 2023 season opener, and the Jets finished 7-10. The next year, with Rodgers back, Saleh was fired after five games. He finished with a 20-36 overall record.

Among the lessons Saleh said he learned in New York was to better connect with the whole roster, which is what he worked on during his second stint with the 49ers despite being the defensive coordinator. That coincides with some of the traits Borgonzi has said he wanted in the next coach.

“That person ultimately has to connect everybody in the building,” Borgonzi said. “You have to have that balance of being demanding, connecting people in the building, and just bringing people together.”

The Titans have not made the playoffs since 2021 when they were the AFC’s top seed and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round under former coach Mike Vrabel.

The first order for Saleh, a defensive-minded coach, will be to find an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach that can help Ward develop into their franchise quarterback.

The Titans also are set to move into a new stadium in 2027.