Mike Borgonzi surprised many when he put his friendship aside and hired Robert Saleh over Matt Nagy as the Tennessee Titans‘ next head coach.
While the desire to hire Nagy was never truly confirmed in what was a methodical and quiet coaching search, the assumption was made early on after Borgonzi parted ways with Brian Callahan in October and stuck with the team throughout the process, even though the vast majority of candidates were on the opposite side of the ball.
It even gets mentioned now by Jared Dubin of CBS Sports, who breaks down the winners and losers to this point in the coaching hiring cycle.
Winner: Tennessee Titans (kind of)
The Titans hired former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator and New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh as their next coach. Perhaps just as importantly, they did not hire now two-time former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, which had been heavily rumored before the Saleh news broke, given the connection between Nagy and Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi from their time in Kansas City.
Nagy showed little propensity for putting players in position to succeed during his tenure as head coach of the Chicago Bears, and the Chiefs’ offense backslid significantly upon his return to his previous role, so it never made much sense that he was considered the favorite to land this job.
Saleh’s time in New York did not go particularly well, but that stemmed almost entirely from the revolving-door situation at quarterback. His defense ranked as the best in the league during that stretch. If the Titans are right about Cam Ward, things could be different this time around.
Dubin is absolutely right about Saleh, whose struggles in New York had everything to do with the offense and his quarterback situation, which makes his offensive coordinator one of the most important hires of his coaching career. After flashing as a rookie, Cam Ward has to develop into a consistent force for the offense, and in many ways, Saleh’s success depends on it.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Tennessee Titans named ‘kind of’ winners in the 2026 coaching carousel