Titans Finalize Robert Saleh’s 2026 Coaching Staff
On Thursday of this week, the Titans announced their finalized coaching staff under new head coach Robert Saleh. We had already covered many of the staff changes in previous posts as they were announced, but the release this week provided some previously uncovered updates.
On the offensive side of the ball, the only new info for position coaches saw a slight change in title for Randy Jordan. Originally retained to reprise his role as running backs coach, Jordan will reportedly take on the additional title of Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellowship coordinator.
The release announced the hires of Isaac Williams as assistant offensive line coach and John Rudnicki as offensive assistant. Lastly, offensive assistant Trevor Browder has been retained in the same role. It will be his third season in a full-time position for the team after first joining as a Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellow in 2023.
Williams arrived in the NFL in 2022 after six years of experience at a few small colleges. He’s served as the assistant offensive line coach for the Steelers for the past four years and will now assist new offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo in attempting to turn around a line that desperately needs improvement to protect quarterback Cam Ward.
Rudnicki will be making his NFL coaching debut as he makes his way up from the collegiate ranks. He started as an undergraduate student assistant coach working with the offensive line at Alabama before doing the same as a graduate assistant at South Alabama. He’s spent the past three years at South Carolina with two years as a graduate assistant before serving last year as an offensive assistant working with running backs.
On the defensive side of the ball, the release announced a couple of new hires in linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and defensive backs/nickels coach Dalton Hilliard. We also got information that Ben Bloom and Travis Smith have been retained under new titles. Previously the team’s outside linebackers coach, Bloom has been retained as a senior defensive assistant, and previously the Titans’ defensive run game coordinator, Smith has been retained as senior defensive assistant/pass rush specialist. Lastly, previously reported with the title of defensive quality control coach, Ahmed Saleh, the head coach’s cousin, will instead hold the title of defensive assistant.
Borgonzi finds a home after not being retained in Dallas. He boasts 15 years of NFL coaching experience including eight years as a linebackers coach — four with the Colts, three with the Bears, and one with the Cowboys. According to Titans insider Paul Kuharsky, Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi removed himself from the hiring process in regard to his brother.
Hilliard will be making his NFL coaching debut after 11 years in the collegiate ranks. He held roles at his alma mater, UCLA, Tennessee-Martin, and Arkansas State before being named secondary coach at UConn in 2022 and adding passing game coordinator to his title in 2024. He joined Colorado State in December as pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach but will spurn the Rams for the NFL.
Lastly, it was announced that Rob Dadona would be hired as chief of staff. Dadona most recently held the role of manager of coaching operations with the Falcons. He’ll be reuniting with Saleh after working with him during his tenure in New York. Dadona started his NFL career as a football operations assistant in 2019 and was promoted to assistant to the head coach when Saleh took over in 2021.
NFC Coaching Updates: Falcons, Vikings, Garcia, Glenn
As the offseason chugs along, teams continue to reconstruct their coaching staffs. The Falcons made a number of moves just before the weekend, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN. The staff continues to take shape under new head coach Raheem Morris.
On offense, two announcements were made on assistants looking to hold over from Arthur Smith‘s staff last year. Rothstein reports that assistant offensive line coach Shawn Flaherty and offensive assistant Patrick Kramer, who each came to Atlanta last offseason, will be retained in their previous positions.
A new hire was announced, as well, with the team naming Jacquies Smith as their new outside linebackers coach. Formerly a seven-year NFL defensive end, the former undrafted player out of Missouri will now accept his first NFL coaching position. After disappearing from the NFL-world for a spell and making an appearance in the XFL, Smith worked with draft-eligible players in pre-draft training. He most recently spent the 2023 season as an assistant edge coach for the Texas Longhorns.
In the front office, the team announced the hires of John Griffin as director of player performance and Rob Dadona as manager of coaching operations. Griffin follows Morris after spending the past three years with the Rams. Dadona replaces Brian Griffin, who departed to serve as Chief of Staff at the University of Maryland. Dadona spent the past five seasons with the Jets, serving as assistant to the head coach for the last three.
Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFC, starting with a couple out of Minneapolis:
- The Vikings announced two staff additions this weekend, naming assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and assistant to the head coach Henry Schneider IV. Sarrett replaces Justin Rascati, who departed for Los Angeles to serve as the Chargers pass-game coordinator. The two essentially swapped places, as Sarrett spent the past three years in the assistant offensive line coaching role with the Chargers. Schneider spent the last five years with the Raiders, most recently as the manager of coaching operations.
- The Cowboys added a hot, young name out of Washington to their defensive staff this weekend. Cristian Garcia, who spent part of last year as the Commanders interim defensive backs coach, will head to Dallas as a defensive quality control coach, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. Garcia was a name that former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera turned to for leadership after firing defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. Now he’ll join the NFC East rival.
- Washington added their own coaching assistant last week. According to ESPN’s John Keim, John Glenn will join the staff as the Commanders’ new assistant special teams coach. Glenn replaces Ben Jacobs, who had served in the same role since following Rivera from Carolina in 2020 but was not retained by the new staff. Glenn changes roles a bit after spending the past six seasons as the Seahawks linebackers coach.