NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans agreed to hire Robert Saleh as their coach on Monday night, hoping he can speed up their rebuild and end the franchise's skid of four straight losing seasons, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.
Saleh spent this season as the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator, his second stint in that job after spending three-plus seasons as coach of the New York Jets. He did not have a winning season with the Jets and was fired after a 2-3 start in 2024, going 20-36 overall.
But the 46-year-old Saleh still had a strong reputation around the league and was a sought-after candidate in this busy coaching cycle.
“Playing for him was such a blessing. He’s a defensive mastermind,” 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said earlier Monday. “I think he’s one of the best to do it.”
Tennessee went 19-49 over the past four seasons under Mike Vrabel — who was fired after the 2024 season — and Brian Callahan, who lasted just 23 games before being fired on Oct. 13 after a 1-5 start. That made the Titans the first team with a coaching vacancy, only to wind up as one of 10 NFL teams looking for a coach and the fourth to hire one.
The Titans interviewed 15 candidates for the job before paring down their finalists to Saleh, Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley — who was hired earlier Monday as the Miami Dolphins' coach.
Of that trio, only Saleh had yet to interview with the Titans until an in-person session Monday.
This was the first coaching search run by general manager Mike Borgonzi, who was hired on Jan. 17, 2024. Borgonzi knew he was walking into a franchise needing a major rebuild, and he made clear he had no timetable for making his biggest move yet.
Borgonzi started the renovation by taking quarterback Cam Ward at No. 1 overall.
His first draft class featured Ward, who started every game and set the single-season rookie passing record with 3,169 yards. He also threw 15 touchdown passes with seven interceptions. Chimere Dike became an All-Pro punt returner, and All Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had a career year.
Simmons shared a googly-eyes emoji on social media as news broke of the Titans finding their coach. Ward, who had said he wanted to be involved in the team's search, was in Florida watching his alma mater, Miami, lose the College Football Playoff national championship game to Indiana.
The Titans go into this offseason with the fourth overall draft pick, about $100 million in salary cap space with the chance to free up more room and an enclosed stadium opening in 2027.
Saleh is the seventh coach the franchise has had since moving to Tennessee in 1997 and the fifth since 2014.
Before his first stint as the Niners' defensive coordinator that began on 2017, he worked as an assistant with Houston, Seattle and Jacksonville.
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FILE - San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh stands on the sideline during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Jan. 3, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Scot Tucker, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed Friday to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease global economic uncertainties caused by the war in the Middle East.
Their summit in Seoul came as U.S. President Donald Trump slammed allies for not supporting the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. Macron was making his first visit to South Korea since taking office in 2017 as part of an Asian tour that already has taken him to Japan.
Macron told Lee at the start of the meeting that the two countries can play a role in helping to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, according to South Korean media.
At a joint televised briefing afterward, Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and de-escalate Middle East animosities, while Lee said the two affirmed “their resolves to cooperate to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The two leaders did not take questions and did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the strait, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Lee said he and Macron agreed to expand cooperation in technology, energy and other areas. South Korean and French officials also signed agreements to cooperate on nuclear fuel supply chains, jointly invest in an offshore wind project in southern South Korea and to collaborate on critical minerals.
Macron’s Asia trip comes as Trump has ramped up his frustration with allies. In a speech Wednesday, Trump said Americans “don’t need” the strait but the countries who do “must grab it and cherish it.”
“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 soldiers in harm’s way over there, right next to a nuclear force — let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the strait. Let China do it.”
Macron has said reopening the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation was unrealistic.
South Korean officials have said they were in contact with Washington on the issue and that Seoul wasn’t considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.
The United States stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea, not the 45,000 stated by Trump. The U.S. troops’ deployment in South Korea is meant to deter potential aggressions from North Korea.
French President Emmanuel Macron, front left, his wife Brigitte Macron, back center, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, front right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, right, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, center, his wife Brigitte Macron, left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, second left, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second right, during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
