Some coaches talk about working with a blank slate — Robert Saleh, the Tennessee Titans’ first-year head coach fresh from San Francisco, described his early work turning around the city’s flailing NFL franchise with a more modern analogy.
“ These first, call it eight to 10 practices, all the way up to the blue-white game next week, we're constantly installing,” explained Saleh before hitting the field on Thursday morning. “The challenge for the guys is to try to stay ahead mentally, so the mental load of all the installation doesn't slow them down athletically, which usually is the case in the first two weeks of training camp.”
Saleh packed new schemes, skill coaching, positional drills and simulated plays into a crisp two hours on Thursday, the second day of training camp. All that work came alongside a healthy dose of team building at the Titans’ modern MetroCenter headquarters.
Defensive superstar Jeffery Simmons fired up his fellow defensive linemen when he plowed through a tackle dummy and the coach positioned behind it. Cedric Gray snagged an interception, showboating in the end zone while his sideline erupted. When Elic Ayomanor split the defense for a touchdown, his primal scream briefly drowned out the background hip-hop blasting across the field. Without pads and tackles, simulated drives showed off speed and agility rather than the physical intensity players can expect on game day.
Last season, while the Titans took a downturn from their three-year stretch of legitimate contender status, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons …
Last year, the Titans competed to avoid being labeled the NFL’s worst team. A few bright spots — all-pro punt returner Chimere Dike, as well as Simmons, who regularly ranks among the league’s top defensive players — gave fans just enough hope to keep watching. Cam Ward, the NFL's first overall draft pick in 2025 (the fruit of a last-place Titans season in 2024), started all 17 games, showing big-game potential but playing uneven football. He also uttered last season’s most memorable quote.
"If we keep it a buck right now, we ass,” Ward said in September after the team’s losing start. “At this point, we have nothing to lose. We’ve lost a quarter of our fucking games, and we’ve yet to do anything. We’ve got to lock in, especially myself.”
The team started 1-5, embarrassing owner Amy Adams Strunk enough to fire head coach Brian Callahan with 11 games left in the season. The Titans finished 3-14 in a four-way tie for the league’s worst record as the franchise muddled through a generational low point. Meanwhile, former franchise star Derrick Henry revived his dominant run game for the rival Baltimore Ravens, and former head coach Mike Vrabel led the Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl.
Titans coach Robert Saleh addresses reporters, July 30, 2026
New slogans like “Own It” and "All Gas No Brakes" now line the Titans’ practice complex, accompanying a full-team rebrand that updated the team’s iconic sword logo and lightened up its two-tone blue color scheme. Players readily described this year’s training camp as professional and organized, drawing welcome contrast with the team’s rocky past few years.
Ownership brought in Saleh on Jan. 22 to pull the Titans out of its disastrous tailspin. Saleh, who formerly led the San Francisco 49ers defense, has delegated offensive play calling to focus on his preferred territory. He has already implemented a new defensive scheme players describe as “fast and violent” and signed talent he previously led in New York during his three-year stint as the Jets' head coach.
The four-time Pro Bowler heads to Baltimore after totaling more than 9,000 rushing yards with Titans
“ They gotta figure out a way to block us, not the other way around,” defensive end Jermaine Johnson, who played under Saleh with the Jets, told reporters after practice. “ There's nothing else I'd rather be in, because when you're holding that kind of power — it's a lot of fun to play in. But you need the right people to be able to play that, and I feel we have the right people.”
In addition to a few team veterans and Saleh’s raft of signees, a core of drafted young talent has given fans plenty to watch. Every quarterback needs targets, and Ward was joined just months ago by 2026 first-round draft pick Carnell Tate, a smooth wide receiver who won the 2024 NCAA championship with Ohio State. Tate got his share of smack talk from the defense, drawing taunts from linebacker Cody Barton, safety Amani Hooker and cornerback Marcus Harris after a pass sailed over his head on Thursday. Second-year players Ayomanor and tight end Gunnar Helm add to an aggressive receiving corps with plenty to prove.
For now, coaches and the front office have a few immediate concerns. About 40 players from Thursday's roster need to be cut to get under the league’s 53-man limit. Those choices are never easy. Saleh is already trading barbs with radio pundit Jared Stillman, chief jester of Nashville sports media, and made headlines in May for his blanket ban of seed oils at Titans facilities. Maybe that kind of detail makes the difference — players and fans seem to agree that there is nowhere to go but up.
