A past accusation fuels a new AFC South rivalry. Jaguars coach Liam Coen says Jacksonville is ready to take on the Titans and their new coach.
One of the wildest moments from the 2025 season came in Week 4, when Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and then-San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh had a heated moment following Jacksonville's 26-21 win over San Francisco.
Saleh earlier in the week had accused Coen of "legally stealing signs." The then-first-year Jags coach nearly tussled with Saleh postgame, telling him, "Keep my name out of your mouth."
Saleh later apologized for his choice of words. The two coaches moved on.
Fast forward to 2026. Coen and Saleh are now head coaches in the same division after Saleh was named head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Coen, for one, is very excited about the newest addition to the AFC South.
"We were just texting," Coen said Wednesday on "The Pat McAfee Show" from Radio Row in San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl LX. "It is awesome that he's in the AFC South. What a cool move by Tennessee, seriously. Just to get another quality defensive head coach in this league that gets defenses to run around that way, I mean it's fun for us. You want to play the best. That's no different for coaches. There's no difference. You want to beat your peers. You want to be better than everybody."
Saleh earned a second chance as an NFL head coach after leading the New York Jets for three-plus seasons. Both of Saleh's head coach jobs followed his stints as defensive coordinator for the Niners.
Now, he is tasked with bringing the Titans back into contention. He has hired former New York Giants coach Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator, working with 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward.
Saleh is also tasked with taking on a Jaguars team that won 13 games this past season and won the AFC South for the first time since 2022. Jacksonville has also been in control in the two teams' head-to-head series in recent memory.
The Jaguars have won four straight and seven of eight in the series. Before that stretch, the Titans had won five straight and nine out of 10.
The heated moment from Week 4 will undoubtedly be brought up the first time Jacksonville and Tennessee meet in 2026. But by the sounds of the coaches, that beef will have long since been quashed, and the focus will be on the two teams at that point.
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