{"id":753860,"date":"2026-02-15T13:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/753860\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T13:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:16:16","slug":"tennessee-titans-finalize-coaching-staff-a-look-at-the-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/753860\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Titans finalize coaching staff: A look at the defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tennessee Titans<\/a> have announced their full coaching staff<\/a> for the 2026 NFL season.<\/p>\n

The Titans<\/a> hired Robert Saleh to be their next head coach on Jan. 22. Tennessee has made additional hirings in the weeks since Saleh\u2019s deal.<\/p>\n

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The Titans have retained three coaches on their defensive staff. Tennessee welcomed five new defensive coaches this offseason.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the Titans\u2019 defensive coaching staff in full.<\/p>\n

Ben Bloom – Senior defensive assistant<\/p>\n

Ben Bloom returns to the Titans for his third season, now as senior defensive assistant. Bloom served as outside linebackers coach for the Titans from 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Dave Borgonzi – Linebackers coach<\/p>\n

Dave Borgonzi replaces Frank Bush as linebackers coach. Borgonzi is the younger brother of Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi. He most recently served as linebackers coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025.<\/p>\n

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Dalton Hilliard – Defensive backs\/nickels<\/p>\n

Dalton Hilliard was the pass game coordinator as well as defensive backs coach for Colorado State in 2025. The Titans are the first NFL team that Hilliard has coached for in his career.<\/p>\n

Marquand Manuel – Defensive backs\/safeties<\/p>\n

Manuel joins the Titans after serving as secondary coach\/pass game coordinator with the New York Giants in 2025. He\u2019s been a defensive coach in the league since 2013. Manuel began his NFL coaching career as a special teams assistant on the Seattle Seahawks in 2012.<\/p>\n

Tony Oden – Pass game coordinator\/cornerbacks<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL season will be Tony Oden\u2019s second as the Titans\u2019 defensive passing game coordinator as well as cornerbacks coach. Oden was the New York Jets\u2019 senior defensive assistant as well as cornerbacks coach from 2022-24. New York\u2019s secondary produced a two-time first-team All-Pro honoree in Sauce Gardner in 2022 as well as 2023.<\/p>\n

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Ahmed Saleh – Defensive assistant<\/p>\n

Ahmed Saleh, the cousin of coach Robert Saleh, serves as the new defensive assistant for the Titans. His last role was as linebackers coach as well as special teams coordinator for Wayne State University.<\/p>\n

Travis Smith – Senior defensive assistant\/pass rush specialist<\/p>\n

Travis Smith now serves as defensive assistant\/pass rush specialist after serving as defensive run game coordinator in 2026. Smith enters his second season with Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Aaron Whitecotton – Defensive line<\/p>\n

Whitecotton serves as the Titans\u2019 defensive line coach. He\u2019s coached in the NFL since 2013. Whitecotton most recently served as defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Tennessee Titans finalize coaching staff: A look at the defense<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tennessee Titans have announced their full coaching staff for the 2026 NFL season. The Titans hired Robert…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[106996,107576,257,107577,36524,25655,22491,7,4193,59855,3403,56,255,6,6043,7536,261,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-753860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-ahmed-saleh","9":"tag-ben-bloom","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dalton-hilliard","12":"tag-dave-borgonzi","13":"tag-defensive-assistant","14":"tag-defensive-staff","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-linebackers-coach","17":"tag-marquand-manuel","18":"tag-mike-borgonzi","19":"tag-new-york-giants","20":"tag-new-york-jets","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-robert-saleh","23":"tag-sauce-gardner","24":"tag-seattle-seahawks","25":"tag-tennessee","26":"tag-tennessee-titans","27":"tag-tennesseetitans","28":"tag-titans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}