Feb. 6, 2026, 12:58 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh found himself in some hot water in 2025. As defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, he was asked about the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of their Week 4 matchup. He complimented Liam Coen and the Jaguars’ offense, saying they were good at putting themselves in good offensive positions and that they were good at picking up opponents’ signals and adjusting.
“They’ve got legally, a really advanced signal-stealing type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation,” were the words sent via transcript from the team.
Saleh’s intentions were praise, but the words he used misconstrued that intent, and despite Coen saying he didn’t take it that way, the two met at midfield after the Jags defeated the 49ers 26-21 and had a heated exchange.
When asked about it later, Coen downplayed the incident, and Saleh later said that his wording was bad and apologized.
Coen was on the Pat McAfee Show this week, and Saleh’s name came up.
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After some joking about how Coen should text Saleh, Coen admits that he likes that Saleh is in the AFC South.
“It is awesome that he’s, I mean, what a cool move by Tennessee. Seriously,” he said. “Just to get another quality defensive head coach in this league that gets his defense to run around that way? I mean, it’s fun for us. You want to play the best, and that’s no different for coaches. There’s no difference. You want to beat your peers, you want to be better than everybody, and that’s the way it goes.”
Coen and Saleh will face each other twice a year until one of them is no longer in his current position. As members of the same division, this conflict gives the conference a bit of drama and controversy heading into 2026.
We’ll have to see how they interact this fall when the teams meet for their annual home-and-away series.