Robert Saleh’s Coordinator Updates: New Titans head coach making moves with existing and potentially new coaching staff members

Here’s the latest on who is coming and going on Robert Saleh’s new staff.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans have already checked off the first, most important box of their to-do list: hiring a head coach. It came out late Monday evening that former 49ers DC Robert Saleh had agreed to terms to take the job. An official acknowledgement from the Titans came on Friday.

The next item on their list is only slightly less important: filling out Saleh’s coaching staff. This begins with the three coordinator positions, and news on that front is beginning to heat up. Here’s the latest:

Titans coordinator updates

We now have confirmation of the strong expectations for each of the Titans’ 2025 coordinators.

Paul Kuharsky tweeted the official word Thursday morning that special teams coordinator John “Bones” Fassell will be retained under Saleh.

This was practically a pre-requisite on the search committee’s job description. He signed a three-year contract through 2027 last winter and was a big part of transforming this franchise’s special teams into a real strength. Saleh was apparently more than happy to keep him on, satisfying everybody involved.

Unsurprisingly, Saleh will not be retaining defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.

Wilson is a good ball coach who will be a credit to his next staff, if you ask me. He was regularly drawing the short straw with personnel decisions and had to get creative to solve problems far too often. I think he had a pretty impossible job at times.

Who Saleh will hire as his DC remains a mystery, with just two names on the interview list so far (that we know of). Those men are Bears DB/passing game coordinator Al Harris and Cowboys DL coach Aaron Whitecotton.

Saleh and Whitecotton have a longstanding working relationship. They were on the same Jacksonville staff in the mid-2010’s, reunited in San Francisco for a year in 2020, and the Saleh brought Whitecotton onto his Jets staff from 2021-2024. You can consult this coaching connections hot board for other names Saleh has worked with before and may pull from. The new Titans head coach has made it clear he intends to call plays on defense.

One name on that hot board is current Titans assistant Tony Oden, who ESPN’s Turron Davenport said Thursday will be on this 2026 staff after working with Saleh in New York.

Another defensive coach we have an update on is DL assistant Lori Locust, who was a Vrabel holdover on Callahan’s staff. She will not be retained.

Moving to the offensive side of the ball, RBs coach Randy Jordan and TEs coach Luke Stocker are both sticking around for 2026.

Unsurprisingly, offensive coordinator Nick Holz will not be retained.

The OC position on this team becomes even more important now that Saleh is the head coach, because this person will essentially be the play-calling head coach of the offense.

Five names that have been floated by those in Titans media circles were invoked by Tom Pellisero on Thursday: 

  • Former Steelers OC Arthur Smith
  • Former Commanders oc Kliff
  • Former Texans OC and Dolphins pass game coordinator Bobby Slowik
  • Packers OC Adam Stenavich
  • Former Giants HC Brian Daboll

Daboll has been the man most strongly connected to the Titans so far, and the Athletic’s Dianna Russini said earlier this week that he is expected to either take the Bills head coach job or the Titans OC job. He’ll obviously prioritize a head coach opportunity if he lands it. His interview with Buffalo was Thursday morning.

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