Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh says he has smoothed things out with Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen after a public clash between the two last fall.
Saleh was defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers when he said last September that Coen used a legal “signal-stealing type system.” He later described the phrase as “the wrong choice of words.”
“We’re good. I know the NFL probably wants more of a story, but there’s no story,” Saleh said Tuesday at annual league meetings in Phoenix. “I have an appreciation for Liam. Like I said, I used the wrong word when I was trying to give him a compliment, but all that’s water under the bridge.”
Saleh’s initial comments last September led to Coen telling him “keep my name out of your mouth” during an argument on the field after a Week 4 matchup between the 49ers and Jaguars.
Both coaches walked back their animosity in the week after the incident. Saleh said he should have described Coen’s scouting as “film study” rather than using the phrase sign-stealing, and that his “intent was always to compliment that football staff.”
Coen said on the Pat McAfee Show he had some “pent-up emotions” about the 49ers matchup after working with the Los Angeles Rams, and that he had a “lot of respect” for the Niners coaching staff.
Saleh and Coen are set to meet multiple times next season now that both are leading AFC South teams.
The Jaguars and Titans are set to play both in Jacksonville and Nashville next season, although the exact matchup dates won’t be revealed until the league’s anticipated schedule release in May.