Tennessee Titans finalizing deal to hire 49ers DC Robert Saleh, per report
The Tennessee Titans are finalizing a deal to hire Robert Saleh as their next head coach, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Saleh spent Monday in Nashville interviewing with the Titans for a second time. He will take over as the 22nd head coach in franchise history.
Saleh, 46, spent the 2025 season with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the team’s defensive coordinator. The 49ers dealt with injuries to several key players, most notably, defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner suffered season-ending injuries. Still, San Francisco held strong defensively and found a way to win 12 games in the regular season. The 49ers’ season came to an end this past Saturday, a 41-6 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round.
This was Saleh’s second stint as San Francisco’s play-caller. He held the position from 2017-2020 before taking the head coaching job with the New York Jets. Saleh went 20-37 in New York, fired just five games into the 2024 season, his fourth with the franchise. He spent the remainder of the season working as an offensive consultant for the Green Bay Packers before returning to San Francisco ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Titans land on Robert Saleh after lengthy interview process
The Titans requested the most first-round interviews of any team this hiring cycle. They had scheduled in-person interviews with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. Earlier Monday, Hafley was named head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
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Saleh was always a likely candidate to get a second opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was confident it would happen this year.
“Saleh’s that good anyway,” Shanahan said after the team’s Wild Card Round win over the Philadelphia Eagles. “Regardless of what happens today or what happens next week, I know it’s a matter of time before Saleh’s a head coach again.”
In joining the Titans, Saleh will have his work cut out for him. Tennessee has won just six games over the last two seasons, last a playoff team in 2021. Saleh’s offensive coordinator hire will be key, with 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward in place as the team’s franchise quarterback.