Robert Saleh wasted no time in turning to a familiar playbook and a familiar coaching staff to build his new regime in Tennessee. As his work has begun his work as the Titans‘ head coach, he’s assembling a formidable coaching staff by picking coaches from his former team. His scouting endeavors have succeeded by luring away Kyle Shanahan’s assistants. 

The newest defensive line coach in Tennessee is Greg Scruggs, formerly known as the assistant defensive line coach in San Francisco. 

“Titans coach Robert Saleh is taking Greg Scruggs with him from the 49ers’ staff to be his defensive line coach,” reported Matt Maiocco on X. “Scruggs was the 49ers’ assistant defensive line coach this season and worked on Saleh’s staff with the Jets in 2022.”

Scruggs is replacing former Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. Not only did Saleh spend this season with him on Shanahan’s staff, but the two also worked together in the Seahawks (2012-15) and then, the Jets back in ‘22. The Niners must’ve known it was only a matter of time until Saleh landed another head coaching gig when they re-hired him in January ‘25. When that happened with the Titans’ sparkling vacancy, Shanahan guessed Saleh’s next plan of action. 

“Yeah, I do expect Saleh to ask for some people,” Shanahan said earlier this week. “We’ll see how that goes here over the next two weeks.”

Moving on to the next agenda item for Saleh as Tennessee HC: Offensive Coordinator. Since it’s been made clear that they are not retaining Nick Holz, a few names have been spoken of to fill the vacancy. Bobby Slowik’s name was in the conversation until the Dolphins promoted him to OC under new head coach Jeff Hafley’s regime. 

Now, Mike McDaniel’s name is being mentioned for the Titans’ OC position. What makes him a likely candidate is his connection with Saleh from their days in San Francisco. The two were on Shanahan’s staff for four years before Saleh landed the HC gig in New York, and McDaniel had found a home in Miami. 

Although McDaniel has said a conditional “yes” to the Chargers for the OC position, old connections may persuade him in another direction. 

Saleh has retained special teams coordinator John Fassel. While he has his eyes out in the market for offensive play calling, the new head coach is expected to handle the defensive plays on his own, especially after he failed to handle the defense with the Jets.

So, whoever takes the position of the Defensive Coordinator might not have to indulge in defensive plays, but rather game planning. Piece by piece, Saleh’s coaching staff is beginning to take shape. 

Kyle Shanahan quickly replaces Robert Saleh

While the new Titans squad is taking its time to be set up, Shanahan has moved quickly to fill the void left by Saleh. Reports suggest he has an “obvious” candidate for the DC position: Gus Bradley. 

“I’m going to say it’s a real wide net, but Gus is the obvious one to everyone and is to us too,” Shanahan told reporters. “Gus would be the main internal candidate… We are going to go through the whole process. There’s requirements we have to do and stuff that we want to do, also. So, hopefully, we can get it settled sooner than later.”

Niners may have filled this vacancy internally, but Scruggs’ departure has created a new void on Shanahan’s staff. They might explore the market for it. As reluctant as the 49ers head coach may be to let his former DC go, he probably knew Saleh wasn’t going to stay. 

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But the same may not apply to his offensive coordinator. Since the Niners’ season concluded post-Week 18, Klay Kubiak has been enlisted for head coach interviews with other teams. He has even interviewed with the Raiders and Steelers. But now, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported he’s staying with Shanahan in San Francisco, as he removed himself from head coaching consideration.