New Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh — who was previously the head coach of the New York Jets from 2021-24 in between two stints as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers — brought another former head coach with him to Nashville as his offensive coordinator: former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
Quarterback Cam Ward is pumped to have Daboll in his corner.
“I had a good interview process with him throughout the draft season last year, and I think he’s going to do a lot of things to compliment me. I think he is going to put me and the team in the best situation,” Ward said about Daboll, who scouted Ward during the 2025 NFL Draft process on the Giants, according to the Titans’ team website. “He is a coach who is well respected, and someone like me wants to play for a guy like that. I am for sure going to have his back, and he is going to have mine. I am excited to learn from him. …
“Having a coach like Daboll, who is going to listen to me, and give me feedback from the film room to the field and put his game plan in each and every week. That is why I am excited to be heard by him, and it is going to get some wins for us.”
Daboll comes to Tennessee after being the head coach of the Giants from 2022-25 and the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills from 2018-21.
Beforehand, as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama, Daboll was the playcaller for future NFL quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa on a 2017 Crimson Tide team that won the College Football Playoff National Championship. In Buffalo, now-superstar quarterback Josh Allen had Daboll as his offensive playcaller for the first four years of his career (2018-21).
Then, in New York, Daniel Jones posted the best completion percentage (67.2%) and passer rating (92.5), the most rushing yards (708 yards) and rushing touchdowns (seven) and fewest interceptions (five) across his time with the Giants in his first season under Daboll (2022).
This season, Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart posted a 93.5 passer rating, threw for 1,417 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 317 yards and seven scores in the seven starts that he made before Daboll was fired; the Giants reached the NFC divisional round in 2022, Daboll’s first season at the helm, but they then went a combined 11-33 before firing the head coach after the team’s 2-8 start to this season.
Ward loves the way that Daboll is wired.
“I like that he is a fiery coach,” Ward said of Daboll. “He is going to get on my ass when he needs to, and he is going to hold me to a high standard. And that’s the standard I want to be held to. … I want a coach like Coach Daboll who is going to be the same each and every day. He is going to let me know the real, and I just have to respond.”
As for Ward, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and a 2024 Heisman Trophy Award finalist at Miami, started all 17 games for Tennessee in his 2025 rookie campaign. Ward totaled 3,169 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, seven interceptions and an 80.2 passer rating, while completing 59.8% of his passes. He also rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
Tennessee was 30th in the NFL in passing yards (166.1 per game), rushing yards (93.5 per game) and points (16.7 per game) and 31st in total yards (259.6 per game) this season.
Fortunately for the Titans, who went 3-14 for a second consecutive season in 2025 and fired head coach Brian Callahan after a 1-5 start and a combined 4-19 record since he took over for the 2024 season, they have the most cap space in the NFL this coming offseason (roughly $100 million), the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and their own selection in each of the first four rounds.
