Robert Saleh’s biggest challenges as new coach of Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms to bring Robert Saleh in as their new head coach. Reports surfaced on Monday night, and Tuesday the two parties agreed to a five year deal.

Saleh, Titans make it official

Saleh spent the last year as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator. Despite dealing with injuries to two of his biggest stars the San Fran defense was the back bone of the team. This past year was as Saleh’s second stint in San Fran, after spending four seasons in the Bay before leaving for the New York Jets in 2021.

He was named the Jets head coach, and looked to turn things around but he spent three seasons in the Big Apple. One of those season Zach Wilson was his quarterback and the offense struggled mightily. The next two seasons saw Aaron Rodgers come in at QB to try and help the offensive struggles, but he tore his achilles in Week 1 of his first season and the next year the offense never improved which led to Saleh’s firing.

Now Saleh gets another shot at being a head coach as the Titans bring him in to replace interim coach Mike McCoy. McCoy spent most of the season as the boss on the sidelines after Brian Callahan was fired after 23 games in Tennessee.

Uphill climb for Saleh

The deal is official as of early today, and Saleh has his work cut out for him. The Titans finished with a 3-14 record for the second straight year and now they will have the fourth pick in the draft after getting the top pick in last year’s draft.

Last year the Titans took Cam Ward with the first overall pick in the draft, and the fist year QB had a rough rookie season. He passed for 3,169 yards, 15 TDs and 7 INTs and completed 59.8% of his passes. He was sacked 55 times which didn’t do him any favors, but there were glimpses of brilliance when he got time. What Ward needs is a little consistency on the sidelines. Saleh will be his third coach in less than a year. Saleh needs to stick around and bring in an offensive coordinator that will not only protect Ward, but bring the best out of him.

Saleh is a defensive genius and he will take over a unit that was at the bottom of the ladder this season. When he was with the Jets he had some pretty sturdy defenses but offensive troubles masked those numbers in New York. The Titans are still looking for someone to fill the shoes of Mike Vrable, who they fired after the 2023 season. Vrable is in the AFC Championship in his first year in New England while the Titans have gone 3-14 in two seasons since firing him.

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