The Tennessee Titans missed out on hiring John Harbaugh, as he will now be the next head coach of the New York Giants. However, it’s not the end of the world. For as successful as Harbaugh has been over his career, his recent track pattern has not been overly impressive.
Even though the Ravens were always contenders, they rarely got over the hump and part of it was because of personnel decisions by Harbaugh. Don’t get us wrong, had the Titans landed Harbaugh, they would have hired the top candidate on the market for the immediate future.
However, Tennessee is looking to start fresh and that means that they need to bring in someone who will help develop the players for the long haul. There is one coordinator that has already been a head coach once that the Titans need to do whatever it takes to bring into the building.
Titans must heavily pursue 49ers' DC Robert Saleh
In 2021, Saleh earned his first head coaching job for the New York Jets where he helped build one of the best defensive units through his tenure. However, Saleh never got the chance to really grow the organization because of different factors, including not having any stability at quarterback.
There is no denying that Saleh can coach a defense to its full potential. He showed it off with the Jets, they just couldn’t get the quarterback position right. Not to mention, he was fired in the middle of the 2024 season despite the Jets still being competitive at the time of his firing.
In his first and now second stint with the 49ers, Saleh has produced a tough defense, whether Nick Bosa and/or Fred Warner have been on the field. He’s a great players coach and his players go all out for him on the field. He is a great motivator that the Titans could really benefit from. The Titans are set to interview him virtually on Sunday, according to various reports.
The good news for the Titans is that they already have an ascending quarterback in Cam Ward, so Saleh wouldn’t need to worry about finding one. He can focus on the rest of the team, including the defense that he would have the chance to build up.