Robert Saleh planning one major change with Titans after failed Jets tenure

When the New York Jets fired former head coach Robert Saleh just five games into the 2024 season, the assumption at the time was that it wouldn't take long for the longtime NFL assistant to find work again.

Saleh landed on his feet, reuniting with Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers as the team's defensive coordinator for the 2025 season. One year later, he's already received another head coaching opportunity.

The Tennessee Titans officially hired Saleh to be their new head coach late Monday night. Saleh had received considerable interest from around the league and seemed destined to land a head coach job again this cycle.

Now, Saleh is back as an NFL head coach, and this time, he plans to do things a little differently after his 3.5-year Jets stint ended prematurely. He plans to call defensive plays.

Robert Saleh has apparently learned from his Jets failures

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Monday night that Saleh is expected to call plays for the Titans' defense in 2026. Saleh reportedly believed that not calling plays "disconnected him from the game too much" during his time with the Jets. He intends to make some changes this time around.

While Saleh clearly came to believe that not calling defensive plays put him at a disadvantage with the Jets, the results suggest it didn’t hurt the unit on the field. The Jets' defense finished top five in fewest yards allowed in every season from 2022 through 2024, with Jeff Ulbrich handling play-calling duties.

The real issues that plagued Saleh in New York had far more to do with the other side of the ball. It was a failure to find or develop a quarterback and a series of underwhelming offensive staffs.

The Titans believe they may already have their quarterback of the future in Cam Ward, but everything hinges on whether they get the offensive coordinator hire right. Saleh is not necessarily the guy you want developing a young quarterback, as we've seen in the past.

It’s worth noting that a second stint can look very different for a head coach. Just as players develop with experience, coaches often refine their approach, learn from past mistakes, and grow into the job the second time around. That’s far from uncommon across the league.

Of course, there are also cases where a coach simply is who he is. The Titans are betting that Saleh falls into the former category, and that his shortcomings in Florham Park were more a product of rotten luck and residual Jets dysfunction than any hard ceiling in his own coaching ability.

Only time will tell if that belief proves correct, but Saleh is at least approaching this opportunity with a willingness to change. Whether those adjustments are enough to alter his trajectory will soon become clear.