By accepting the head coaching position with the Tennessee Titans, Robert Saleh claims he has put his beef with Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen behind him. Fans will get an opportunity to see how true that statement really is early in the 2026 season.
According to Saleh, the two have “cleared up” their heated feud “a long time ago.”
“We cleared that up a long time ago,” Saleh told reporters at the annual league meeting, via Ryan O'Halloran of the Florida-Times Union.
Coen aired a similar sentiment during the 2025 season to put the situation behind him. Nothing is set in stone until the two go head-to-head for the first time as head coaches in 2026.
Saleh and Coen were never friends, but they turned heads by yelling at each other on the field after a game during the 2025 season. Saleh was then the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator, with Coen in his first year as head coach of the Jaguars.
Coen claimed the tension has been building since their days as rival coordinators in the NFC West. Coen spent a year as Sean McVay's offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams during Saleh's first stint as the 49ers' defensive coordinator.
Now the leaders of rival teams in the AFC South, Saleh and Coen will be pitted against each other at least twice a year for as long as their tenures overlap. Even if the beef has actually been squashed, those emotions can easily resurface with them now engaged in another rivalry with different franchises.
