Multiple former NFL players received presidential pardons on Thursday.
Via ESPN.com, White House “pardon czar” Alice Marie Johnson announced Thursday that President Trump gave pardons to defensive tackle Joe Klecko, offensive lineman Nate Newton, running back Jamal Lewis, running back Travis Henry, and halfback/fullback/tight end Billy Cannon.
None were currently incarcerated; Cannon died in 2018.
“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again,” Johnson wrote on social media. “So is our nation.”
Klecko, a Hall of Famer, played 11 years for the Jets and one with the Colts. Via ESPN.com, he pleaded guilty to perjury in 1993 for lying to a federal grand jury investigating insurance fraud.
Newton spent 13 years with the Cowboys and one with the Panthers. The six-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro pleaded guilty, per ESPN.com, to federal a drug trafficking charge in 2002, after police found $10,000 in his truck — along with 175 pounds of marijuana in car driven by an accomplice.
Johnson said Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, “personally” got the news from owner Jerry Jones.
Lewis spent six years with the Ravens and three with the Browns. He was the 2003 AP offensive player of the year, after rushing for 2,066 yards. Lewis had seven 1,000-yard seasons. Per ESPN.com, he pleaded guilty after using a cell phone to set up a drug deal, not long after he arrived in the NFL as the fifth overall pick in the draft.
Henry played seven years in the NFL, with the Bills, Titans, and Broncos. He pleaded guilty in 2009 for conspiracy to traffic cocaine, per ESPN.com.
Cannon won the Heisman Trophy in 1959 before spending a decade in the AFL and one year in the NFL. Via ESPN.com, Cannon pleaded guilty to counterfeiting in the 1980s.
No reasoning was given for the decision to grant the pardons.
Titans Clips
The Titans finalized their coaching staff under head coach Robert Saleh, the team announced Thursday.
In addition to Saleh, the coaching staff consists of 14 other new additions with eight others returning from last season.
Previously, the Titans announced their three coordinators — Brian Daboll (offensive coordinator), Gus Bradley (defensive coordinator), and John Fassel (special teams coordinator).
Fassel also has assistant head coach as part of his title.
Here’s a look at the complete staff:
Robert Saleh: Head Coach
Gus Bradley: Defensive Coordinator
Brian Daboll: Offensive Coordinator
*John Fassel: Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
*Ben Bloom: Senior Defensive Assistant
Dave Borgonzi: Linebackers
Carmen Bricillo: Offensive Line
*Trevor Browder: Offensive Assistant
Dalton Hilliard: Defensive Backs/Nickels
*Randy Jordan: Running Backs/Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Coordinator
Cade Knox: Offensive Assistant/Game Management
Greg Lewis: Wide Receivers
Marquand Manuel: Defensive Backs/Safeties
*Tony Oden: Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks
John Rudnicki: Offensive Assistant
Ahmed Saleh: Defensive Assistant
*Travis Smith: Senior Defensive Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist
*Rayna Stewart: Assistant Special Teams
*Luke Stocker: Tight Ends
Shea Tierney: Quarterbacks
Aaron Whitecotton: Defensive Line
Isaac Williams: Assistant Offensive Line
Rob Dadona: Chief of Staff
* indicates returning member of the coaching staff
Mike McCoy is headed back to the AFC West.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Raiders are hiring McCoy as assistant head coach.
McCoy, 53, was added to the Titans staff as senior offensive assistant in early 2025. But he then took over as interim head coach after Brian Callan was fired in October.
The Titans went 2-9 under McCoy over the rest of the season.
McCoy was previously the Chargers’ head coach for their final years in San Diego from 2013-2016. He recorded a 27-37 regular-season record with a 1-1 postseason record.
Since then, he’s been the Broncos offensive coordinator, Cardinals offensive coordinator, and Jaguars quarterbacks coach.
The Giants are hiring Titans linebackers coach Frank Bush, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
Bush, 63, has spent the past two seasons as the Titans’ linebackers coach. He helped Cedric Gray rank fourth in the NFL with 164 tackles in 2025.
Bush has 33 years of NFL coaching experience.
He began his career with the team he played for, the Houston Oilers, in 1993. He has also coached the linebackers for the Broncos (1995-96), Cardinals (2004-06), Titans (2011-12), Rams (2013-16), Dolphins (2017-18), Jets (2019-20), Falcons (2021-23). He coached the secondary and special teams for the Broncos in 2000-03 and was a senior defensive assistant with the Texans (2007-08) before becoming their defensive coordinator (2009-10).
He was the interim defensive coordinator for the Jets in 2020.
The Giants hired Matt Nagy as their offensive coordinator and another former NFL head coach is in the mix to be their quarterback coach.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Giants will interview Brian Callahan for that position on John Harbaugh’s coaching staff.
Callahan was fired by the Titans six games into the 2025 season. That was his second season as the head coach in Tennessee and he went 4-19 before being dismissed.
Prior to being hired by the Titans, Callahan spent five seasons as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator. He was the quarterback coach for the Raiders and Lions before landing that position and will have a role in helping to develop 2025 first-round pick Jaxson Dart if he lands the role with the Giants.
Titans head coach Robert Saleh said that he believes offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is the “perfect man to match up” with quarterback Cam Ward as the team works to continue developing the 2025 first-round pick after a strong finish to his rookie season.
Ward feels the same way, even if it means that he’s going to hear some blunt criticism from time to time. Ward said that Daboll “is going to let me know the real” whether it is positive or negative and that he’ll welcome hearing tough things because it will help him get to where he wants to go in the NFL.
“I like that he is a fiery coach,” Ward said, via the team’s website. “He is going to get on my ass when he needs to, and he is going to hold me to a high standard. And that’s the standard I want to be held to.”
The Ward-Daboll pairing will be crucial to Saleh’s success in his tenure with the Titans and anything that needs to happen to make it a successful one should be on the table as the team moves toward the 2026 season.
Gus Bradley is following Robert Saleh to Tennessee.
Via Paul reporter Paul Kuharsky, the Titans are hiring Bradley as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Bradley, 59, spent the 2025 season as San Francisco’s assistant head coach with Saleh the team’s defensive coordinator. After his stint as Jacksonville’s head coach from 2013-2016, Bradley has served as defensive coordinator of the Chargers (2017-2020), Raiders (2021), and Colts (2022-2024).
Unlike his first stint as a head coach with the Jets, Saleh said he plans to call Tennessee’s defensive plays in 2026.
Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons went to the playoffs in his first three seasons with the Titans, but the last four seasons have not brought the same kind of success to Tennessee.
The team is 19-49 since the start of the 2022 season and they are starting over with their third head coach in that span. Robert Saleh is the new man in charge on the sideline and he’s got a fan in the team’s top defensive player.
Saleh talked about playing with speed and violence in his introductory press conference and Simmons said on Sunday “that’s how I like to play the game.” Simmons thinks his teammates will feel the same way about playing for someone with Saleh’s energy.
“We have a young football team, and I feel like we still have to figure things out,” Simmons said, via the team’s website. “And I think with Saleh coming him, with his style of coaching, I think it will be great for us, especially having such a young football team. I think the culture change will be good for us.”
Simmons won’t have anything to do with how the Titans fare on the offensive side of the ball, but sorting that out should keep the defense out of bad positions and set Simmons up for a chance to make impactful plays in wins rather than being the bright light of another disappointing defeat.
The Titans are betting that the second time will be the charm for Robert Saleh as a head coach.
Saleh was 20-36 over three-plus seasons as the Jets’ head coach before being fired early in the 2024 season, but the Titans still tabbed him to be their next head coach earlier this month. They formally introduced Saleh at a press conference on Thursday and a lot of Saleh’s messages sounded the same as the ones he sent while with the Jets.
Saleh preached playing fast, violent football and broke out his “all gas, no brakes” motto, but also stressed that his experience with the Jets helped make him a different coach this time around.
“There is no handbook to a first time at anything you do,” Saleh said, via the team’s website. “The proper question would be: What didn’t I learn? There is so much to gain from any time you are in the chair as head coach, and there is so many learning experiences that I had. I could sit here and talk to you for the next four hours about all those things. But I can assure you there is tremendous growth from the opportunity I had as a coach and through that growth I think I am more prepared now than I’ve ever been to attack this position.”
One significant difference from his Jets time is that Saleh will be calling the defensive plays in Tennessee and the Titans hope that another will involve the kind of quarterback development that never took place when Saleh was working with Zach Wilson in his previous stop.
Robert Saleh’s second stint as an NFL head coach will feature one significant difference from his time with the Jets.
Saleh did not call defensive plays during his three-plus years as the Jets’ head coach and he said at a press conference on Thursday that he will be making those calls for the Titans. Saleh said he felt like the “timeout, red card” guy when he was not calling plays during a game and explained why he’s more comfortable taking on that responsibility.
“Calling plays, for me, is not necessarily about control, but it’s about connecting with the players,” Saleh said. “When you are a play caller and you are calling plays, you feel the strain you’re putting on them with each call. You’re feeling the connection, you’re feeling what each one is going through. I can feel the weight of the play call on individual players in those moments.”
The Titans will also have a former head coach calling offensive plays in Brian Daboll and the hope is that the pairing leads to a lot more winning than either experienced while coaching their home games at MetLife Stadium.
