The Tennessee Titans finally got their guy. Tennessee hired Robert Saleh as their next head coach after an extensive search for their next leader. Now that Saleh is in the building, the next step for the Titans will be to assemble a strong coaching staff to assist him. One popular offensive coordinator candidate may be difficult for the Titans to hire.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained on Tuesday why Tennessee may not be able to add Mike McDaniel at offensive coordinator.
“McDaniel has become an interesting name on the market,” Breer wrote on Tuesday. “He’ll do a second interview with the Browns on Wednesday. He met with the Raiders on Monday. And he’s in the last group with the Buccaneers, who, as we mentioned in the takeaways, could eventually present him with the opportunity to succeed Todd Bowles as head coach. That’s why, while he’s high on Saleh’s list, it’d be hard for the Titans to count on landing him. I’d also say it might be tough to get LaFleur out of Los Angeles.”
Saleh and McDaniel have been colleagues a few times before. They spent time together with the Texans (2006-08) and the 49ers (2017-20).
McDaniel would be an exciting hire for Tennessee, but Breer made it clear that it could be a long shot at best.
If the Titans do not land McDaniel, perhaps former Giants head coach Brian Daboll could be their guy.
“From there, Daboll becomes an interesting name, with his experience developing young quarterbacks (Jaxson Dart, Daniel Jones, Josh Allen) and his ties to both Saleh (the two coached opposite each other for three years in New York) and Borgonzi (the two worked together in Kansas City in 2012),” Breer added.
Daboll could be a candidate for Buffalo's head coaching job too, so he is also not a sure thing.
Thankfully, Saleh has a close relationship with much of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. That means there should be plenty of coordinator candidates to choose from who Saleh already trusts.
It will be exciting to see how Saleh's coaching staff takes shape in the coming weeks.
