Titans Hire Robert Saleh As Next Head Coach: How the former 49ers and Jets coach proves the franchise is serious about winning

The Tennessee Titans are hiring Robert Saleh as their next head coach in 2026.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans became the first team in the NFL to begin their search for a new coach ahead of the 2026 season all the way back in Week 7 of the 2025 season. Since firing Brian Callahan in October, they have been joined by a staggering nine other teams looking for a new head coach as well. Tennessee cast a wide net and narrowed it down sharply, with three finalists at one point over the weekend: Kevin Stefanski who was expected to land in Atlanta, Jeff Hafley who was expected to land in Miami, and Matt Nagy.

It seemed the former OC of the Kansas City Chiefs might be the last man standing. But the final first round interview on their schedule was Saleh, on Sunday afternoon after being eliminated from the playoffs. The Titans canceled that interview and moved him straight into the finalist round on Monday, interviewing in-person on the heels of Nagy’s in-person interview in the morning.

The two sides really impressed one another, and an hour before the clock struck twelve, an agreement had been struck. Robert Saleh is signing as the next head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

Titans hire Robert Saleh as new head coach in 2026

Adam Schefter was first with the news of Saleh landing in Tennessee. I have confirmed the two sides are agreed on terms.

Saleh was my initial prediction for Titans frontrunner back in October for three simple reasons: I had good reason to believe he was hungry for another job, he brings the experience to the table this search committee was looking for, and by all accounts he is the kind of culture bedrock-establishing personality that this blank slate team could really use. He is clearly an alpha, and I don’t think the people in charge of this team are as afraid of an alpha today as they grew to be at the end of the Vrabel era. You can read all about Saleh’s profile and candidacy for the Titans job at this link here.

The whole of the Titans fanbase had worked themselves into a lather as this process drew to a conclusion, because the specter of a Matt Nagy head coaching candidacy was an astonishing turn-off. I tried by best to properly document the vitriolic pre-backlash this possibility was drawing in an article here, where I also explain that I don’t think the Nagy hate is all that warranted.

But it existed, and it was about to rain down on the Titans like hellfire. I wrote in that piece that “Amy Adams Strunk knows exactly how it will be received. Borgonzi does too. Perhaps the weight of this PR burden will keep her from ultimately giving the green light.” I can’t say for sure how much this weighed into their ultimate decision, at least not yet. Clearly they really liked Nagy, since he was their only other finalist. And in a world where Saleh’s 49ers stay alive in the playoffs, who knows what would have happened. I’m sure the Titans will be adamant about Saleh winning the job purely because he was their favorite candidate for the job. And as somebody who thinks he was the better choice, I think I will ultimately be inclined to believe them on that in the end.

What complicated things here for GM Mike Borgonzi is that he has a well-documented friendship with Matt Nagy. They worked together in Kansas City, and Borgonzi leaned on Nagy for council when he was preparing to interview for the Titans job a year ago.

The NFL is an industry of buddy-hires. But fans despise them, and nobody wants a friendship getting in the way of what’s best for the future of a team. This is the difficult decision President of Football Operations Chad Brinker made during the 2025 GM search when he gave the nod to Borgonzi instead of his friend and old Packers colleague Jon-Eric Sullivan. He did what he felt was best for the franchise, even though it meant a very difficult conversation with a friend. The Titans assured fans this was the way they would conduct themselves in this search as well. If Matt Nagy were to win the job, it would be because he truly won the job. And it seems he didn’t.

At the end of the day they landed on what they feel is what’s best for this franchise, instead of making the familiar hire. And that’s the kind of driving force behind decision-making in that building that will lead them back to winning football games if they stick with it.

They hope that Robert Saleh is the man to take them there.

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