Vegas oddsmakers are eyeing a massive turnaround in Tennessee as a defensive overhaul and high-profile roster additions catapult the new head coach into the Coach of the Year conversation.
Robert Saleh has his work cut out for him with the Tennessee Titans.
He has the tough task of taking a franchise that has gone 6-28 in the last two years and turning it into a competent football team.
The Titans were a mess in a lot of areas of last year under Brian Callahan.
The Titans had the 30th-ranked passing and rushing offense. Tennessee also ranked 30th in the league in points per game (16.7).
Saleh has yet to coach a meaningful NFL game for the Titans, but he's starting to gain traction in the betting world.
The odds for AP Coach of the Year are out, and Saleh was in the top five, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook. He is tied for the second-best odds with Baltimore Ravens HC Jesse Minter. Both Minter and Saleh have +1000 odds.
New York Giants HC John Harbaugh is the betting favorite at +600 odds.
This Titans team is much better than the year before.
The defense has especially improved, which is Saleh's calling card. The Titans added John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Jacob Martin, Keldric Faulk, and many others to the defensive line with Jeffery Simmons.
Simmons did all he could last year, but it was clear he couldn't bear the weight of the pass rush on his own.
The Titans have upgraded the secondary with Alontae Taylor and Cor'Dale Flott.
On offense, the receiver room has been elevated with the additions of Carnell Tate and Wan'Dale Robinson. The offensive line will have two new starters after Lloyd Cushenberry and Kevin Zeitler departed the franchise this offseason.
It may be a stretch for Saleh to win the award this year, but a first-year coach achieving the feat wouldn't be out of the ordinary.
Mike Vrabel won the AP Coach of the Year last year after guiding the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl. The Patriots were in a similar spot to the Titans in 2024, winning four games.
In just one season, Vrabel turned things around, and the Patriots won the AFC East and made it to the Super Bowl.
The Titans have followed the same blueprint that the Patriots have, with a massive spending spree in free agency and a draft class of promising young talent.
If Saleh is able to have a quick turnaround with the Titans and win the award, he would be just the second head coach in franchise history to do so, as Vrabel won in 2021.
It's going to be a long shot, but if recent NFL history has taught us one thing, it's that anything is possible.
