Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans ROBERT SALEH COACHING STAFF IS SET & Nepotism Hires are UNDENIABLE

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

The Tennessee Titans hired Robert Saleh weeks ago, but we finally got official word on his full coaching staff. There are some fantastic moves all over like hiring Brian Daboll, Aaron Whitecotton and ...retaining Bones Fassel and Luke Stocker. However, there were two eyebrow raisers that have nepotism written all over them as Saleh hired his own cousin and general manager Mike Borgonzi's younger brother. These moves are pretty common around the NFL, but there is no doubt there will be scrutiny if it doesn't work. Of course, winning solves all issues and the Titans must win to not cause a stir. Overall, this is still an excellent staff with a lot of experience and is a big departure from the Brian Callahan experience. LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/ Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.FanDuelUse your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals.Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started. IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctortoday. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Robert Salas coaching staff is now complete, and I'm giving it an A minus grade. But that doesn't mean that I don't have some concerns. I'll grade each individual higher on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Fandall. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for a chance to win a trip to the NBA finals.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. On today's show, I am going to grade Robert Sala's coaching staff. Yeah, I'm giving the whole staff an A-minus, but I'm going to go through each individual hire and grade those as well. Excited for you guys to play along with me. But I do have some concerns, especially on the defensive side. of the ball. Before we get into all of that, do want to thank you for making locked on Titans. Your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round.
Starting point is 00:01:13 Always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout up to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't in every day or you need to be one. The Titans are about to start doing their roster cuts, their roster decisions. Free agency is less than a month away and the draft is right around the corner if you want to stay as up to date, as entertained, and as informed as a Tennessee Titans fan, could be make sure that you stay locked in with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world,
Starting point is 00:01:43 locked on Titans. But with that being said, again, overall, I'm given the coaching staff an A-minus. I think that what Robert Cala has done here in totality is absolutely fantastic. You have some young coaches with a lot to prove that can add to the youth and the creativity of the staff. You have a lot of experience as well, especially at the big time positions. And that's really where I want to focus in early on. I mean, Robert Sala at the head of the snake throughout the entire process
Starting point is 00:02:13 from early in the season to middle of the season to late in the season to win the hiring process really got going. I had Robert Sala in my hype tier all along. You get a defensive genius. I think in the NFL, you gotta have a schematic genius. of some kind. It's just so, so important. Now, what you want with that is a leader as well. And the Titans get the best of both worlds here.
Starting point is 00:02:39 They get a schematic genius on the defensive side of the ball and Robert Sala, who's had some of the most impressive defenses in the NFL over the last five to six to seven years going back to his first stint with San Francisco. But you also get a guy who has proven to be a true leader. You have never found a player to say a bad word about Robert Sala. basically every single player he's ever had from Sauce Gardner on the Jets to Fred Werner on the San Francisco 49ers. All of them are like, I love Robert Sala.
Starting point is 00:03:07 I love playing for Robert Sala. He got the best out of me. I mean, I have gone through all the different numbers we've talked about Sala so much. But that right there, that's an A minus higher for the Tennessee Titans, and it's a microcosm of the entire staff in general. Now, Robert Sala doesn't have the winning record. He doesn't have a previous Super Bowl. You know, there are things where you could poke holes in the Robert Sala scouting report, I guess,
Starting point is 00:03:31 which is why I'm going with an A-minus for Robert Sala in general. And again, put your grades for each of these hires down below in the comments or hit me up on social media or get in the Locked-on Titans group chat as part of the Locked-on Titans Every Day or Club, and we'll be discussing all that stuff in there as well. But again, A-minus for Robert Sala as a hire, and a-mina-for-a-staff overall. And what really lifts that up is the coordinators, man.
Starting point is 00:03:56 Brian Dable is an A higher. An absolute stone cold A for Brian Dable. I'm so excited about what he could do for Cam Ward. We talked on Friday's episode about where Cam Ward needs to make improvements and I'm gonna be dropping my Cam Ward full season review film breakdown on the TickTac Titans channel on Tuesday morning but where Cam Ward needs to improve his consistency in his mechanics making sure that his feet are in the right place at all time,
Starting point is 00:04:28 continuing to work on being on time within the offense. And I think that Brian Dable's intensity and his drive and his focus on the details will get the absolute best out of Cam Ward. And Robert Sala said that himself at his press conference. So I am given an A grade to Brian Dable with nine years of experience in the NFL or in college as an offensive coordinator or a head coach, Josh Allen, Daniel Justin,
Starting point is 00:04:55 Jackson DART, Tua, Hertz. He made every quarterback that he's ever been around better. And I think that that is absolutely critical. So an A grade for Brian Dable. Now you go to Gus Bradley and I'll be honest. I'm gonna give that a B. Okay. I think it was a perfect fit for what Robert Sala needed because he needs somebody who knows the system who has experience coaching a ton of different kinds of players, young, old, bad team, good team, this and that. and he's a guy who he knows personally, so they're going to be able to iron out things. They've worked together before.
Starting point is 00:05:31 Unlike, I keep pointing out the antithesis of what Robert Sala has done with his staff with Brian Callahan, who hired Nick Holes to be his teacher and his liaison on the offensive side of the ball because Brian Callahan was the play caller, so the offensive coordinator has a different role than what you would traditionally think of.
Starting point is 00:05:49 Same thing with Gus Bradley, but Nick Holes and Brian Callahan hadn't worked together since they were on, you know, Bill Callahan's staff. And that's the only time that they ever knew each other. They barely had worked together with each other, especially at the NFL level. So there wasn't that sort of easiness.
Starting point is 00:06:09 There wasn't that sort of continuity between those two guys of, oh, not only do I know what you want from your scheme, not only do I know what you want to do from a game planning standpoint, but we've made adjustments together before. We have game planed before. We have scouted before. We have looked at what type of players that we want before. There's so much newness with the Holtz and Callahan combination
Starting point is 00:06:32 that it's just not a problem with Sala and Gus Bradley. But I will make this admission from a game planning standpoint. From an adjustment in game standpoint, is Gus Bradley as good as some of the more cutting edge defensive coordinators? So you are sacrificing creativity and game planning for more of a teacher. Now, Robert Sala should be able to fill those gaps, right? In the game planning, the adjustments, the creativity, all of that. Robert Sala as the defensive mastermind and the play caller
Starting point is 00:07:07 should be able to carry that weight. But I'm going to give Gus Bradley a B, maybe a B plus at most because he is an excellent teacher, but is he the most skilled defensive schematic? mine in the NFL right now? No, he's not. But again, you get that with Robert Salas. So I'm going to give a B to Gus Bradley. Now, Bones Fossil. Do I need to spend
Starting point is 00:07:29 a lot of time here? A plus. And I thought it was also interesting that they gave Bones Fossil the assistant head coach tag. So not only is he the special teams coordinator but he gets that assistant head coach tag as well, which is a prestige,
Starting point is 00:07:46 probably a money bump as well. So, Bones Fossil is the best special teams coordinator in the entire NFL, period, period. He took the Titans from not only the worst special teams unit in the NFL, but a historically bad special teams unit in 2024 and turned them into one of the best special teams units in the NFL to the point where Chim D.K. is an all-pro-pro-Bole player as a rookie. Like, yeah, Chim D.K. deserves his credit.
Starting point is 00:08:21 But Bones Fossil had this team in a great place in 2025. The upgrade from Colt Anderson to Bones Fossil was just, I mean, it's night and day, folks. Absolutely night and day. Swimming in the deep end to being in a kiddie pool. Like it's not, you know, yeah, it's water, but it's totally different. You're going from the ocean to the kiddie pool. Honestly, if I want to make a true comparison from Bones Fossil to Colt Anderson, So being able to bring him back, retain him, whatever it took,
Starting point is 00:08:51 that's an absolute A plus higher. So an A minus for Robert Sala, an A for Brian Dable, a B for Gus Bradley, an A plus for Bones Fossil. Now we've got to get into the offensive side of the ball because some of these position coaches, especially Luke Stocker and Carmen Bracillo, man, I am just over the moon excited about what they can do on their side of the ball. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Zok Dock.
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Starting point is 00:11:02 and get entered for a chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, grading Robert Salah's coaching staff now that everything is set. I gave an a minus to the overall staff and a minus to Robert Salah, A to Brian Daibble, B to Gus Bradley and an A plus four bones fossil. Do want to dive into the rest of the offensive coaching staff right now because I think it's absolutely fantastic.
Starting point is 00:11:55 At quarterback coach, you have Shay Tierney. Now, I give that a B plus and here's why. Is Tierney a guy who's going to say? stick around after Brian Daibble leaves. No, he's probably going to go with him. Is he a guy who's ever been an offensive coordinator or a play caller on his own? No, he hasn't. So like
Starting point is 00:12:14 the amount of talent, the amount of experience isn't quite enough to give him an A. But here's what I will say. He has been with Brian Daibel since 2017. That's Alabama is where they met. Then to Buffalo.
Starting point is 00:12:30 Then to New York together. And they were in New York together. So like I talked about, with Gus Bradley. Is Shea Tierney good enough to be an offensive coordinator on his own? I don't really know. Is he going to be in there changing the game plan, being so creative schematically that it gives the Titans this huge advantage? I don't know. I don't know about that. But, but someone who knows Brian Daeble's system, knows Brian Daebel's expectations, has game planned with Brian Dable, has adjusted with Brian Dable, has created a training camp plan, has developed a quarterback with Brian Dable. He has done all of those things. So is he good enough
Starting point is 00:13:14 to be a Brian Dable himself one day? I don't know. I can't know that right now. But what I do know is he specifically knows what Brian Dable wants. And when it comes to, making sure that the message is coherent. Making sure that the message is solidified. making sure that everybody is on the same page from what Brian Daible wants for Cam Ward in the offense to what is being preached in that quarterback room. I know that we're not going to have any issues whatsoever with Shea Tierney knowing what's expected from Brian Daible and delivering that message to Cam Ward and Will Levis and the other quarterbacks in that room. So that, like with Gus Bradley, that is something that really matters to me.
Starting point is 00:14:02 Tierney being a guy who's been with Daibald for so long. I know that Gus Bradley is not good enough to be a defensive coordinator in the NFL anymore. I don't know about Shea Tierney. Maybe he is good enough to be an offensive coordinator and he just hasn't got the opportunity yet. So I'm going to give that a B plus compared to I gave the Gus Bradley hire a B. But they're both, I like both the hires for similar reasons. Now, I'll get to my first bad grade and it's the worst grade that I have. And it's Randy Jordan running max coach.
Starting point is 00:14:30 and it's this simple. Randy Jordan, I'm given a D grade because what I do know, I'm not going to sit here and tell you guys that I know all these position coaches and how good they are and both.
Starting point is 00:14:45 All we can go off is what they know about their experience. I know that Shay Tierney's been with Brian Dable when he's developed Josh Allen and developed Daniel Jones to a playoff winner, develop Jackson DART, Hertz, and Tua. That's all I can go off of. I've never been personally coached by these people. And you don't get a lot of information about some of these lower level position coaches.
Starting point is 00:15:06 But here's what I do know about Randy Jordan. He was in charge of the screen game for the Titans last year. And likely the year before that. And the Titans had, in my opinion, one of the worst, if not the worst, screen game in the entire NFL. I go back to the Rams game where the Titans run motion into a wide receiver screen
Starting point is 00:15:28 and all three of the guys out there block and no one turns around to get it. I go to the timing of the screens and how they're always off time. I go to how the Titans couldn't execute. Chickicomco wouldn't get off his block quick enough to be open and Cam Ward would get sacked because he didn't peel off in time. Like at some point,
Starting point is 00:15:46 the entire fan base during the season was like, stop running screens. Please stop running screens. And Callahan let it slip at one point in time that Randy Jordan was in charge of the season. the screen game and install every week. And I'm sorry, but if you were responsible for the worst screen game in the entire NFL, I don't care if you're a good running back coach or not.
Starting point is 00:16:11 I'm not excited about that higher. That is the lowest grade that I'm going to give any coach on the entire staff. It's a D for Randy Jordan. Because if he was in charge of that screen game last year, then he's not good at it. And they can't let him do that anymore. Now, moving to wide receiver, Greg Lewis was hired as the wide receiver coach. I give that a B.
Starting point is 00:16:35 Lewis worked with Tyreek Hill early in his Kansas City Chief's career, turned him into one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL. But we have to be, how much of that is Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reed. Got to give Greg Lewis's credit, though. Then he goes to Baltimore for two years. Rashad Baitman turns into the best version of himself after dealing with some injuries, one of the best separators in the entire NFL based on the analytics. And Zay Flowers has a thousand-yard season.
Starting point is 00:17:04 And I think Zay Flowers is a good wide receiver. Is Zay Flowers a great wide receiver? No. I don't think, like, I would rather have Peter Skronski than Zay Flowers. Now, JSN, we can have that conversation, but, you know, would JSN be better than Zay Flowers if JSA was on Baltimore? or if he wasn't with, you know, Clint Kubiak last year and that Seahawks, the offense, probably.
Starting point is 00:17:30 I think Jackson Smith and Jigba is awesome. Probably would take him over Peter Skoronsky. You could go back, but where would the Titans' offensive line be without Peter Skoronsky? You know, so it's kind of like a, yeah, I guess he is a better player, but like, would the Titans be better off with Jackson Smith and Jigba over Peter Skoronsky right now? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:17:47 I don't know, okay? Because the offensive line would be terrible, but it's probably easier to find a guard than it is to find a Jackson Smith and Jigba level wide receiver. So I think it would be fair to say, yeah, you'd probably take J.S.N. You know what I mean? But side tangent. The point is, Zay Flowers is good.
Starting point is 00:18:05 He's not great, though. And what Greg Lewis did with Tyree Kill, what Greg Lewis did with Zay Flowers, I think you've got to give him his credit there. That's a B-level signing for me. But now we get into the real work here on the offensive side of the ball. Luke Stocker is an A-minus for me,
Starting point is 00:18:25 to be able to retain Luke Stocker. And again, it's my theory that Luke Stocker is the succession plan for Brian Daible. If Brian Daibble gets a head coaching job next all season, he's going to take Shea Tierney with him. And Tierney probably becomes his offensive coordinator. So who's going to be the O.C. for the Titans. Robert Salas said he had a plan.
Starting point is 00:18:52 I think that plan is we're going to continue to develop Luke Stocker. and we're going to promote Luke Stocker because it has been reported and I've talked about it a lot that Luke Stocker was the reason that the Titans run game turned up at the end of the season. They let Luke Stocker
Starting point is 00:19:10 take over run game coordinator duties from Bill Callahan and the Titans run game immediately got better. Stocker is a former Tennessee Titan two different stints with the Titans as a player. He's been with the organization as a coach since 2023.
Starting point is 00:19:26 The next Arthur Smith, I'm calling it now. The next Arthur Smith is Luke Stocker. I believe in Luke Stocker. I think he's great. And that's an A-minus higher. To me, can I note for certain to call it an A-plus? No. But I'm a believer.
Starting point is 00:19:44 I think he's the Titans' offensive coordinator and waiting. Luke Stocker, A-minus for me. But the best higher of the offensive position coach is by far is Carmen Brasillo. offensive line coach. He's coached from college starting in 2005, went to New England in the mid-2000s, Las Vegas for a couple
Starting point is 00:20:04 of years, then has been with the Giants with Brian Dable. Carmen Bracillo like Bill Callahan. So I know that a lot of Titans fans are rolling their eyes right now like, uh, we've heard this one before, right? But Carmen Bracillo has been widely praised around the NFL
Starting point is 00:20:22 by other coaches. players, media alike. I mean, as soon as he was hired, I had multiple people from the New York media landscape texting me like, man, you guys got a good one. He transformed the New York Giants' offensive line last year. And look, Bill Callahan got hired right away by the Atlanta Falcons to be their coach.
Starting point is 00:20:47 Bill Callahan is a really great offensive line coach. But under his son, you're limited when your head coach is bad and the offense designer and the offensive coordinator are bad how much can the offensive line coach really help at that point so it's fair to wonder whether we got the best version of Bill Callahan under his son who was obviously not a good NFL head coach and had to go be a quarterback coach because he fell off so hard
Starting point is 00:21:14 so I think it's fair to say that while we've heard oh this is one of the best offensive line coach is in the NFL Well, while we've heard that before, I think this Carmen Bracillo thing is an absolute home run. Again, A plus, my favorite position coach higher of the lot. But now it's time to do want to mention Trevor Browder, John Rudnicki, Isaac Williams are the offensive quality control assistance. I'm not going to act like I know anything about those guys.
Starting point is 00:21:48 Like, I'm not going to sit up here and even lie to you about it. I don't know. those dudes have never even, you know, ran a position by themselves in the NFL. How am I supposed to know whether they're good or bad or not? You know, some of those guys could get promoted in time if Brian Dable does leave, and we'll find out a little bit more about them throughout the season,
Starting point is 00:22:06 but, you know, I want to give you the names, but I'm not even going to lie to you and act like I have hard-hitting analysis on the Titans' quality control coaches on offense. Like, you know, I'm not going to go into a McDonald's and critique the fry cook, you know, like let's focus on the general manager for a little while. But with that being said, we got to move to the defensive side of the ball where a little nepotism is coming in strong.
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Starting point is 00:23:32 Fans, let's cap off. Today's edition of Locked on Titans. We're grading Robert Salas coaching staff. I've gone through the heavy hitters up at the top, going through the position coaches on offense. Now I want to get into the defensive side of the ball where I do have some more concerns. I was really only concerned about Randy Jordan
Starting point is 00:24:06 on the offensive side of the ball. I got a few more concerns on defense. But before we dive in, thanks again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Make sure that you guys join the Locked on Titans Every Dayer Club. The link to join is down below in the description. You're going to get ad-free versions of the podcast in your podcast feed.
Starting point is 00:24:26 You're going to get added to a Locked-on Titans group chat with a bunch of other everydayers and me where we're breaking down everything that happens. We've been talking about the Tennessee Titans uniform leaks and logo leaks. and all that stuff. So many good opinions in there. It's so much fun.
Starting point is 00:24:41 You get access to a Locked on Titans merch store. It's only five bucks a month. It's the cost of a cup of coffee. All the content is free all year round for you guys. Help support the show and support me a little bit. And the group chat is so much fun. So check out the Locked on Titans every day or club description down below in the...
Starting point is 00:24:59 Or the link down below in the description. Scratch that, reverse it. But with that being said, also want to let you know that my bonus episode on Monday afternoon is going to be about the uniform leaks. I'm probably going to put that out on Monday morning. And the Cam Ward full-season film breakdown is going to be out on the Tick-Tat Titans
Starting point is 00:25:16 YouTube channel on Tuesday, so check that out as well. All the promo out of the way here at the end of the show. Aaron Whitecotton, the defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans who they pulled over from the Dallas Cowboys. That is an A grade for me. One of my favorite position coach hires of the entire staff. Aaron Whitecotton is a monster Okay, he coached
Starting point is 00:25:39 With Robert Sala in Jacksonville Went to the Buffalo Bills Went with Robert Sala to San Francisco Went with him to the New York Jets Then went to the Dallas Cowboys And again, what was the lifeblood The heartbeat Of the New York Jets team
Starting point is 00:25:55 with Robert Sala was the defensive line The defensive line was fantastic And he got the best Out of some guys like Will McDonald, Germaine Johnson, Quinn and Williams. Quinn and Williams literally said himself. Aaron Whitecotton changed my whole entire career.
Starting point is 00:26:12 I was a good ascending young player. He turned me into a Pro Bowl, all-pro level player. He changed Quinn and Williams' stance, taught him more technique. Then when Quinn and Williams ends up in Dallas, who's right there with him, Aaron Whitecotton. So imagine what Jeffrey Simmons, Tavondres Sweat, an interior defensive lineman they may bring in in the draft, and they bring back Sebastian Joseph Day hopefully, sign a guy like John Franklin Myers, hopefully.
Starting point is 00:26:39 When they do that kind of stuff, Aaron White Cotton is going to get the best out of them. And he's going to be able to get his hands on a guy like Femiola Dacia, which I think absolutely critical. So that is an A for me with Aaron Whitecotton. Now, here's where the nepotism comes in. All right. Dave Borgonzi. That's right.
Starting point is 00:27:04 That's right. You recognize the name. Not Mike. Not Mike. Dave Borgonzie. Mike's little brother has been hired as the linebacker coach. No wonder we didn't hear about who the linebacker. We heard about Tony Odin staying at DB. We heard about Mark Juan Manuel at safety. We heard about Aaron White Cotton on the D line and the other. No wonder we didn't hear about this one until it was officially announced by the team.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Little nepotiz in there. Hey, I got to tell you, Robert Sala's playing 3D chess with this one. Oh, you want to fire me? I'm going to hire your brother as one of my position coaches. So you can fire me, he's going with me. So 3D chess there from Robert Sala. But here's the thing. I'm actually going to give the Dave Borgonzi hire a B.
Starting point is 00:27:52 I know that there's nepotism there. I understand that. But let me say this. He coached in college since 2006, got into the NFL in the early 2000 teams, He coached for Dallas, for Tampa Bay, for Indianapolis, for Chicago, then went back to Dallas and was in Dallas this year with Aaron White Cotton. He coached guys in Indianapolis, like Darius Leonard, who was an all-pro,
Starting point is 00:28:17 Anthony Walker, who is a good player, Bobby O'Carake, who's a good player, Zaire Franklin, who's one of the best linebackers in the NFL now. He coached Roquan Smith in Chicago. So I know that it's obviously a nepotism higher. I don't think that Dave Borgonzi gets hired here if his brother isn't the general manager. But it's not like he's unqualified. And that leads me to this.
Starting point is 00:28:43 Nepotism as a conversation. Guys, wake up. Look around not only the NFL, but look around the world. Every industry, every business. Nepotism and quote unquote buddy hires are a thing everywhere, everywhere,
Starting point is 00:29:10 in every industry, not just the NFL. And why is that? Think about it. If you're going to do something difficult, you want to do it with people that you trust, people that you know. Now, there's a line in the sand of you can't hire Matt Nagy because you know it.
Starting point is 00:29:28 You need to hire Robert Saleh, even though you don't know it, because he's just more talented. So there is a line in the sand here. But I'm sorry, you can't overly criticize Robert Sala for hiring Mike Borganzi's brother and hiring his cousin as a defensive assistant.
Starting point is 00:29:47 When you look around family businesses, every single coach in the NFL, there is not a coach in the NFL right now, go through every single coaching staff in the entire NFL. And you're going to find position coaches, coordinators, etc. Who worked with the coach before. Who has worked with him in multiple stops. Has some sort of familial connection.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Like, that's how life works. So you can be mad at Robert Sala for some of these nepotism hires. But he's no different than every single coach in the NFL, in college, in the NBA, the MLB. They all hire their buddies and hire guys that they've worked with before and hire their cousins and uncles. And when you start a business, you bring your kid to work and teach them how to do it
Starting point is 00:30:36 so that one day they could take over that business. It's just how life works. So if you want to be up in arms or you want to be, oh, I don't like the Robert Salah hire anymore because he hired Mike Morgonzi's brother and his cousin on the defensive staff, then fine. But you aren't going to like any hire, any place, any business of all time because this happens everywhere in every industry all over the world.
Starting point is 00:30:58 It's never going away. So, there you go. That's my take. It doesn't make nepotism okay. And yes, there are more talented people who don't get opportunities because of nepotism hires. But just because that's true
Starting point is 00:31:15 doesn't mean that every nepotism hire is bad and it also doesn't mean it's going away anytime soon. So I'll give a B to Dave Borgonzi. Tony Oden is a B to me. Like, I wasn't overly impressed with the cornerbacks last year but he didn't have a lot to work with either. So I'll give Tony Oden to be there. Dalton Hilliard was hired as the nickelback coach,
Starting point is 00:31:36 which I think is very interesting. Haven't had a certified nickel coach before. Dalton Hilliard's a former player, was in college for 11 years, just coached Yukons, defensive backs from 2022 to 2025. It's a nickel coach. I think that's super interesting.
Starting point is 00:31:58 I like how, there are specialized roles on this defensive coaching staff, but I'll just give it a C. I don't know how that's going to work out. You know, he's a college coach. Can he coach in the NFL? Maybe they want to get young Nichols in there. So getting a guy who coached in college who's used to college age kids
Starting point is 00:32:15 is a good thing for Marcus Harris, Kevin Winston. That makes sense. But we moved to Marquan Manuel. I'm giving that one a B-plus. Former player, just like Dalton Hilliard. He was a former defensive coordinator for the Falcon in 2017, coached in Philly, the Jets, New York Giants last year. A lot of carryover, a lot of continuity.
Starting point is 00:32:36 I like Marquan Manuel as the safeties coach for the Tennessee Titans. I like that they have a certified pass rush specialist in Travis Smith. And they kept Ben Bloom, who was the Titans outside linebacker coach last year as a senior defensive assistant. Both of those guys are going to work directly with the pass rushers to get the best out of them. having white cotton, Bloom, Travis Smith,
Starting point is 00:33:01 all working with Femi and the other pass rushers that the Titans are going to bring in a rookie pass rusher which is certainly going to be drafted. That's B plus for having those two guys. And then the final name here, a defensive assistant is Ahmed Sala, who is Robert Sala's cousin.
Starting point is 00:33:17 I don't have a grade for that one, guys. I already talked to you about how I feel about the nepotism. He's a defensive quality control coach, man. I'm not going to lose my title. over something like that. But let me know your guys' grades down below. Again, I'm going to be covering the Titans jersey leaks on Monday morning with my bonus episode of Locked on Titans.
Starting point is 00:33:37 But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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