What the Robert Saleh Addition to AFC South Means for Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars will now face Robert Saleh twice a year.

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh walks off of the field after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have a new foe in the AFC South.

According to a number of reports, the Tennessee Titans have found their next head coach in Robert Saleh. The former New York Jets head coach and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator will now lead the Jaguars' biggest rival into two games with Jacksonville each year.

What It Means

The Titans seemingly had a bit of a winding path to Saleh, with the team drawing interest from John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, and Jeff Hafley before they took the head coaching jobs with the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, and Miami Dolphins respectively. The Titans then appeared to come down to Saleh and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their final options.

For the Jaguars, this means their most currently lopsided rivarly will at least get some juice back to it. The Jaguars have dominated the Titans in recent years outside of a lost in the 2023 season finale, and the hiring of Brian Callahan in 2024 proved to set the Titans back quite a bit.

Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan takes questions after their 41-20 loss against the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The issues with Saleh in his stop with the Jets as head coach were fairly obvious. Saleh and the Jets never got the quarterback position right, letting Sam Darnold leave in 2021 and drafting all-time draft bust Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall. Saleh and the Jets then went to Aaron Rodgers and Nate Hackett at offensive coordinator before Saleh was ultimately fired.

With that in mind, the Jaguars can expect for the Titans' woeful defense to improve in a big way over the next few seasons. The defense was never the issue with his Jets teams, while his 2025 49ers defense was hampered by season-ending injuries to his two best players in Fred Warner and Nick Bosa.

Since the 2021 season, Robert Saleh's first in New York, the Jets defense is

1st in points per drive
1st in EPA per play
3rd in success rate

...despite playing the fourth-most snaps over that stretch.

Saleh never solved the QB problem, but man. He delivered on defense.

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 8, 2024

Saleh would obviously be walking into a much better situation than the one he entered with the Jets, at least from a quarterback perspective. Titans quarterback Cam Ward struggled at times as a rookie, but he was with arguably the NFL's worst head coach and supporting cast for the bulk of it. He also showed impressive improvement over the course of the season, and is a significantly better option than Wilson ever was.

The biggest factor for the Jaguars might be what kind of coordinator hire Saleh makes. That will likely set the ceiling for the offense and determine how tough of a matchup the Titans will be for the Jaguars in the coming years. Mike McDaniel looks like one potential option.

Nov 16, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh looks on in the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

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