11:28pm: The Titans announced Daboll’s hiring. It seems he’s no longer a contender to become the Raiders‘ head coach. Daboll agreed to a three-year contract, according to veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky. The Raiders still have another HC interview left, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. It is not known which candidate will meet with the Silver and Black this week.
11:18am: The Titans are set to hire Brian Daboll as their next offensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. However, Daboll remains a candidate for the Raiders’ head coaching job. He conducted a second interview with Las Vegas on Tuesday, per Schefter. Daboll will join the Titans if the Raiders don’t hire him.
Daboll had been in the running to fill the Bills’ head coaching vacancy, which he reportedly preferred, but that’s now off the table after they promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady on Tuesday. The Raiders are now the only team the Titans will have to fend off for Daboll’s services.
Daboll has given Titans HC Robert Saleh his word that he’ll go to Tennessee if he doesn’t land a head coaching gig, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. In the event the Raiders hire Daboll, the Titans would have to pivot to a different play-calling choice. Along with Daboll, former Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, Packers OC Adam Stenavich and ex-Buccaneers QBs coach Thad Lewis have all interviewed with the Titans.
For now, Saleh appears poised to reel in an accomplished offensive coordinator to join his first Titans staff. It also pairs up a couple of of former New York head coaches. Saleh coached the Jets from 2021-24, while Daboll led the Giants from 2022-25.
If he heads to Tennessee, the 50-year-old Daboll will receive his fifth try as an NFL O-coordinator. He previously held the position with the Browns (2009-10), Dolphins (2011), Chiefs (2012) and Bills (2018-21). The Giants hired Daboll after an excellent run in Buffalo, where he helped quarterback Josh Allen go from raw prospect to superstar.
Daboll didn’t have nearly as much success in New York with Daniel Jones, another former first-round QB. Despite early flashes, Jones didn’t develop into the answer under center for the Giants, which played a key role in Daboll’s struggles. Daboll worked with yet another first-round signal-caller, Jaxson Dart, in 2025. While Dart performed well as a rookie, Daboll wasn’t around for the entire season. The Giants fired him after a 2-8 start.
Catching on with the Titans would give Daboll another chance to work with a prized young passer in Cam Ward. The Titans chose Ward first overall in last year’s draft, but he wasn’t in an ideal spot to succeed in 2025. The Miami product took a league-worst 55 sacks, tying him with the Raiders’ Geno Smith, lacked weapons in the passing game and didn’t enjoy stability on the sidelines during a 3-14 campaign.
The Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan in October, leaving Mike McCoy to take over for the rest of the season. QBs coach Bo Hardegree called plays, but Daboll is now primed to play a major role in developing Ward going forward.
So which is it
The Raiders should grab Joseph. Need a better defense while Mendoza waits for his line to develop
I would disagree with Daboll and Daniel Jones. He had a great year the first year and then got injured. Just my personal opinion.
They drew the equivalent of what the Patriots got this year schedule wise and still barely went over .500. I’d say most of that was due to Martindale’s defense rather than Daboll or his offense. Mind you, he had players who were capable of MVP seasons the moment they left NY. Not down the road, but immediately.
Jones did not have a great year under daboll. Daboll did a great job of hiding jones. 15 passing tds is not a great year.
Tennessee: “Let’s hire a head coach who has a 20-36 career record and pair him with an OC who was 20-40-1 as a HC (and actually made the playoffs one year) it’ll be fine! what could go wrong…”
This is a team that fired Mike Vrabel two years ago. Don’t expect Amy Adams Stunk to do smart football things.
People keep saying this like Vrabel didn’t stink for three years. Also, didn’t she hire Vrabel when absolutely no one was looking to hire him as an HC?
He was fired after three postseason appearances. Are you kidding? Amy Strunk Adams could F up a wet dream.
And he stunk for three straight years after doing so. You people act like coaches have jobs for life or something. Jeff Fisher made the playoffs three straight years and was a much better coach in Tennessee 20 years ago. You think he should still be there too?
How do you ‘measure’ Jeff Fisher as a “better coach”? He was when he had a tremendous roster for several years. When he didn’t, he stunk. Vrabel won in Tennessee with an average roster. And now in his first year in NE, he’s in the SB. Adams BLEW it when she fired him.
Tennessee had an average roster under Vrabel when they were winning? Okay. They literally had a top five roster in the league during that time period, or do you people just measure how good a roster is by the QB? Because no team is winning 13 games with Ryan Tannehill at QB with an average roster. Literally had a top five line, the best RB of a generation, a top ten/top five receiver in brown, a defense capable of getting nine sacks in a playoff game, and you are sitting here talking about they had an average roster. SMH. Some of you people need to chill with these bad takes on football.
“You people” Ha! Ok armchair expert- They had a running game because they had Henry. The O-line was average at best and a defense that Vrabel coached up. As soon as he left they $hit the bed. I live there and saw every game. They’ve sucked ever since. So put your beer down, sport. Adams BLEW it.
The very second Saleh was fired from the jets, that defense fell off a cliff, then no Bosa, Warner or 1st rounder Mykel Williams, and his defense still beat Philly and went to the divisional round, if he gets the draft picks right on defense that’s gonna be something
I’m not saying Saleh is a terrible coach. And he’s definitely a good DC. But Vrabel > Saleh and Vrabel > Brian Callahan.
But the Titans will do Titans things.
He’s a very good DC….but that doesn’t mean he’s a HC….and he actually is a terrible HC so you would be right if you said that
People seem to like his leadership qualities. Coaching the Jets, you definitely get graded on a curve as to whether or not it was you or them. He built a great defense there, but he got the offense all wrong even when Rodgers came, and it was mostly rooted in their terrible offensive line. We’ll see what he learned if anything this go around.
He’s a schmoozer. And saying that about the jets is to say no one’s ever won there before. Go watch a game from his jets tenure and notice the amount of mental mistakes and penalties the jets committed. THATS COACHING. He’s terrible at it
I’m hardly a fan, but I’m just saying, that’s how people in the league see him and even fans. I was surprised by how many fan bases wanted him when looking around. I saw both Raven and Steeler fans in favor of it and not like some fringe parts of their base. Raider fans. Cleveland fans. I don’t get it. Also, the Jets organization rots from the top. You say people have one there. Barely under Woody. Rex is literally the best coach Woody Johnson has had since he took over, and he’s essentially a .500 coach. I think these bad orgs have systemic rot in them. I mean there was some scandal about people on the business side of their organization blackmailing employees or something. We’ve all worked at bad places that others wouldn’t know from the outside looking in, and these bad football teams are just like that, and I’d say it’s two thirds of the league. The Jets are at the top of the pyramid.
You Saleh fanboys forget…. it’s not like he didn’t have talent on that Jets roster!!!People We’re picking them to make the playoffs the year he got fired…he did a horrendous job
Saleh wasn’t the defensive coordinator of the jets…that defense fell
Off the cliff because they promoted Jeff ulbricht to HC and he could no
Longer coach the D…so try again…
Jeff Ulbrich was not “promoted”, he became interim HC when the Jets dismissed Saleh.
You know what I meant.
I’ve been one of the loudest critics for the Titans, but Daboll might make this work. He helped develop Josh Allen in Buffalo, so I could see him trying the same thing with Cam Ward. I think they need a new lead running back, and a good veteran #2 quarterback. I know their tight end Chig Okonkwo wants to come back, but it’s gonna be hard to turn down the kind of money he’s gonna see in free agency. Calvin Ridley is rumored as a salary cap casualty, they’ll need a new go-to receiver if he’s gone. At least the two they drafted last year are safe.
My guess is they draft a pass rusher in the 1st, they’re much harder to get than receivers, then with the cap space they got they can get a veteran wr or 2
Ridley is gone.
They should’ve hired Daboll as the head coach. He’s more qualified than Saleh (1 playoff appearance compared to Salehs 0) especially to lead a team with a young QB.
I think they like Saleh’s personality more. Other than the one incident with Coen (who has, despite his own talent and people’s love for him, has done some low class stuff himself), he comes across as more level headed than Daboll. The Titans are probably wanting to get the best of both worlds by having Saleh over Daboll, instead of the reverse (and, much more importantly, Saleh was only leaving for an HC job, whereas Daboll could go to any position).
On the field, I think Daboll is a great OC for Ward. He can run college inspired offenses with heavy RPO action that should allow Ward to improve from his second to last QBR ranking by taking advantage of his youth and athleticism. The Titans do have a receiver problem, though, so the OC hire is only half the battle. They also need a lead back-nothing against Pollard, but he’s not enough on his own to carry that room (in fairness to Pollard, it’s 2026, and only a handful of players can carry a seventeen game season as a lone workhorse).
I don’t think that this ends with the Titans becoming a perennial playoff contender-I don’t think that Ward has that high a ceiling, honestly, even if I do think that he’s not as bad as his production was this year. I also have zero faith in the owner. The Jags could fall off next year, with so many first time coaches on staff, and Houston could continue to have problems with their line and Stroud’s regression, but both figure to be at least be playoff contenders. The Colts could recover from their (yet again) injury plagued season. The division is harder to climb out of than it looks.
The greatest thing that Titans fans have to hope for is that Borgonzi, who finally has full control, is as good as he was rumored to be. He’s made what looks like purposeful moves so far, so if his plan comes together, Tennessee has a chance. For now, though, Daboll has the a good chance, with his philosophy, to go back to some of the concepts that made Ward successful in college, and the first starting step.
Wait, you’re in here complaining about Saleh but thought they should have hired Dabol? SMH.
He also was OC in three other places and was terrible at it. We’re about to find out if that was the outlier because Allen always was going to be great or not. With his temperment problems, we’re about to find out.
Guess he won’t be coming to the Raiders as Davis Webb’s offensive coordinator. That was one scenario that made sense to me if we’re unable to land Kubiak.
Daboll would’ve been head coach in Las Vegas, not OC.
Chucky, genuine question, how happy are you that Belichick isn’t a first ballot HOF-er? People seem shocked but given the uphill battle coaches face making the Hall of Fame plus stuff like Spygate and Deflategate, it doesn’t surprise me.
Still makes the voters look stupid. Polian was behind the snub. The king of voting collusion
Definitely looks stupid but remember that it took Madden almost 30 years to get in. The HoF voters are silly.
Punishment for the cheating, probably. I think that it’s fair, but I still, even with that in mind, can’t fathom how he wasn’t voted in. I would have voted for him. You know that they won’t do that to Brady. Players are much more untouchable than coaches, because we see them on the field (coaches are more visible than GMs, to continue that).
The football world glosses over the cheating scandals and how the Patriots benefitted from them. I absolutely believe that. However, we also saw what they did on the field. It wasn’t all Brady, and it wasn’t all Belichick, and in any era other than the low bar ESPN or FoxSports talking head debate show, fans wouldn’t be glued to that idiotic argument. Again, we saw what Brady and Belichick did on gameday. Even with the cheating, there was extreme skill involved on both sides of the operation (one that Belichick also had more responsibility for). So, in regards to Belichick, he deserves credit for what he did on the field. Even if you disagree as to his abilities, you can’t deny the impact that he had on the league.
You have to ask yourself, at the end of the day: if you have prime Bill Belichick at your disposal, how many coaches are taking over him?
how many coaches are taking over him?
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I hate BB, but in my lifetime, if I had to pick someone better, maybe Chuck Noll? But I’d still go with BB.
Yup. If that’s the struggle you have, it probably answers the HoF eligibility question.
For the record, I do not disagree at all with your answer.
Seems like nobody wants to work with Nick…
Saleh should get all bald coaches.
Poor Cam Ward.