Tennessee

Titans

Smith was with the Titans from 2011 until 2020, when he left to take the role of the Falcons’ head coach. The veteran offensive play-caller has fielded several requests from other teams regarding their offensive coordinator vacancies, and was most recently passed on by the Chargers in favor of Mike McDaniel. Smith’s run-loving ways could pair well in Tennessee for a team short on receiver talent, but he would have his work cut out for him to help turn around what was one of the worst offenses in the league last season.

Whitecotton also had an in-house interview with the Cowboys to fill their defensive coordinator vacancy, but it’s worth noting that the veteran coach has never served as a defensive coordinator. Whitecotton worked with the Jets under Robert Saleh in the past, so this interview with the now Saleh-led Titans shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Harris continues to make the rounds for defensive coordinator openings. The former Pro Bowl corner, who entered the league as a coach in 2012, joined the Bears last offseason as their defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator after spending the previous five seasons with the Cowboys in a similar role. Under Harris, the Bears led the league with 33 turnovers, which included 23 interceptions. Harris most recently met with the Commanders and spent four years coaching alongside Dan Quinn during their days in Dallas. Harris seems primed to make the leap to defensive coordinator somewhere this offseason, but could have more interviews on the way as other teams continue to fill head-coaching vacancies.

The Titans recently hired defensive-minded head coach Robert Saleh, who will implement his own defensive scheme. Wilson held the Titans’ defensive coordinator role for the past two seasons. He has coached in the NFL since 2012.

Daboll is reportedly prioritizing the Buffalo job after serving as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. If the Bills pass him over, Russini said Daboll will likely join Robert Saleh as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator. Daboll would be tasked with helping Cam Ward become an NFL-viable starter quarterback after a disastrous rookie season in which he threw 15 touchdowns and seven picks over 17 games. Ward was among the most inaccurate passers in the league.

Another domino falls in the 2026 coaching carousel as Saleh gets his second crack at head coaching duties, this time with the Titans. Long heralded for his aggressive and unrelenting defensive tendencies, Saleh will look to improve upon his .357 career win rate as a head coach after a tumultuous tenure in New York after peaking at a 7-10 record in 2022 and 2023. He steps into a near full rebuild after the Titans unloaded numerous key pieces at the trade deadline.

Saleh was initially set to meet with the Titans virtually on Sunday, but instead pushed his interview to Monday so he could hold an in-person meeting with the team. His interview comes shortly after the team wrapped things up with former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who is believed by some to be the front runner to land the position. Schultz reported earlier that Saleh, Nagy, and Jeff Hafley were believed to be the top three choices for the Titans, who recently saw Hafley get taken off the market by the Dolphins. If there’s any truth to Saleh and Nagy being the Titans’ top options, they’ll likely move quickly to close the deal with their preferred candidate as they look to find the coach best fit to lead the franchise and No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward into the future.

“It doesn’t make a ton of sense for him to go into a total rebuild” per Pelissero, who rules out Arizona and Las Vegas as landing spots for McDermott. Pelissero mentions that McDermott would be outside of the normal bucket the Steelers hire from, and says Baltimore “makes a lot of sense” while the Titans brass has mutual ties to McDermott from his work with Andy Reid. Seeing McDermott coach Lamar Jackson might be the funniest idea we’ve ever heard of, so of course we’re for it. The Titans also seem like a reasonable landing spot.

It was reported over a week ago that McCarthy would interview with the Titans on January 17th, but according to Schefter, the team also spoke with McCarthy “once in late December in Green Bay,” while the season was still going on. This certainly throws a bit of a wrinkle in how we should view the Titans’ head-coaching vacancy, as the early decision to speak with McCarthy in-season could hint at him being the favorite in the clubhouse. McCarthy is also expected to speak with the Steelers in the coming days, giving him another potential suitor if things don’t work out with the Titans.

One of the most requested head coaching candidates this coaching cycle, Saleh now adds the Ravens to the list of teams he has officially spoken with regarding their head coaching vacancies. He will follow up his interview with the Ravens with a trip to Tennessee to speak with the Titans about their opening.