NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Few coaches ascend the NFL ranks to become one of the 32 head coaches in the league. Even fewer get a second chance to be a head coach.
On the eve of his first training camp as Titans head coach, Robert Saleh is grateful for a second opportunity and determined to make the most of it.
“It is a blessing to get an opportunity in the NFL,” Saleh said Tuesday. “Whether it’s once, twice, three times, it doesn’t matter. I'm fortunate to be sitting in this chair. (My message) is the same thing I tell my wife and kids, we’re the luckiest people in the world. And it’s the same thing I tell the players, ‘We’re the luckiest people in the world.' The people that get to go into those team meeting rooms and we have the opportunity to live out our childhood dream, so, you know the goal is to attack this thing with every fiber in our bodies.”
Saleh went 20-36 with the Jets before being fired midway through his fourth season in 2024. He spent last season restoring his reputation as one of the best defensive minds in the sport, coordinating the 49ers aggressive defense.
Nearly two years after getting a pink slip in New York, Saleh says he’s grown a lot and is ready to lead a team again.
“We made significant changes from my first go around,” Saleh said. “Just the messaging to the players, the way we communicate with the players. All of it has kind of grown from my first year. I’m just a completely different coach from my first year as a head coach to now.”
Saleh was hired to turn around a Titans team that has been stuck near the bottom of the league. He inherits a team that finished 3-14 each of the past two seasons and has not reached the playoffs since 2022.
With 46 new players on the training camp roster of 91, the new coaching staff has a lot to learn over the next several weeks. Saleh promises fast-paced, high-intensity practices to sort out starting jobs and roster spots as he looks to build the foundation for a successful season.
“This will be one of the more difficult, trying training camps for our guys,” Saleh said. “There’s going to be a lot of volume, there’s going to be a lot of contact, there’s going to be, obviously, a lot of strenuous days with the three scrimmages we have. We’re playing in the preseason games, so we’re going to get a lot of volume. We’re going to get a lot of opportunities to see our guys operate. We have what I feel like is a really good plan to get us peaking when training camp ends.”
The Titans open practice Wednesday morning. It will be the first of four workouts this week as they ramp up to the first day in pads next Monday.
