Titans' Saleh to call defensive plays after not doing so with Jets
New Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh said Thursday that he'll handle defensive play-calling duties after feeling like the "timeout, red card" guy during his tenure with the New York Jets.
"Calling plays, for me, is not necessarily about control, but it's about connecting with the players," Saleh said at his introductory press conference, according to Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper.
"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."
Jeff Ulbrich served as the defensive play-caller during Saleh's three-year run as the Jets' head coach from 2021-24. Over that stretch, the pair elevated the defense to rank fourth in yards per play and sixth in success rate, according to Ben Baldwin's database.
Saleh spent the 2025 season as the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator, helping the team reach the divisional round of the playoffs despite key injuries to Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.
The Titans hired former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll as their offensive coordinator this week. He'll call plays for former first overall pick Cam Ward, who will enter his second NFL campaign.
Daboll worked with rookie Jaxson Dart in 2025 and was crucial to Josh Allen's development in Buffalo, where he served as the Bills' offensive coordinator from 2018-21. Saleh called Daboll the "perfect" person to maximize Ward's ceiling in the NFL, according to ESPN's Turron Davenport.
"(Daboll) has had a history of developing young quarterbacks in this league," Saleh said. "There's a lot of benefits to what he does. As a defensive guy game planning against Dabs, he's always going to screen you both run and pass."
Saleh added: "He's going to find the run-pass complex within your scheme for individual players, and he's going to attack the shit out of it. ... He's special in that regard."
Saleh is looking to turn around a Titans organization that has posted a 19-49 record over the last four seasons.