Only thing that's changed, basically, has been the uniform. The Tennessee Titans still aren’t any good. They haven’t been good for quite a while.
But they will be good. "Really" good. About that, Robert Saleh sounds convinced.
The more the Titans keep losing, the more their first-year coach is publicly heralding their wide-ranging improvement, which only trained eyes, evidently, can foresee. Listen to Saleh just in the three days since they stumbled to 0-4 with a loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
On quarterback Cam Ward: “The kid is going to be a damn good quarterback, man. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath and let him grow.”
On the defense: “There's certain things that (opponents) hit us on that I promise you by Week 10 (Titans defenders are)
going to laugh at when teams try to run it . . . We're going to have some dominant football games where it's awesome to see.”
On the big picture: “Eventually, this team's going to become really good.”
With such idealistic assertions, Saleh keeps writing checks that I’m unsure his players are going to be able to cash for him. I've no idea how anyone could think otherwise, given how the past four weeks — shoot, make that the past four years — have gone for these Titans.
Nonetheless, Saleh insists. By doing so, he keeps shifting a target off his players and on to himself. Perhaps that’s his goal. It’s a hazardous one, though, with this franchise. History has demonstrated how there’s no guarantee of safety for anyone in Titans-land with a notoriously impatient owner like Amy Adams Strunk in charge.
What if the improvements don't happen? What if Ward doesn't get it turned? What if the Titans' defense falls short of Saleh's standards? What if the Titans go a third consecutive season with a record of 3-14? Or worse?
“I get what's happened in the past,” Saleh said, “but this team is independent of what has happened in the past. There's only a handful of people who are (still) here. And I think if you talk to those people, I think they would tell you that they feel something different.”
Saleh’s unshakable optimism reflects the gap between how the Titans perceive themselves versus how they are regarded outside their building. Years of losing and empty assurances from this team have whittled away the fans’ willingness to reject evidence of shoddy football while continuing to hope blindly for an unresponsive magic wand to start working and transform a losing franchise.
Since he just got here, Saleh may not have grasped the frustration in the air in Nashville.
But even if he did, I don’t think his calm, confident demeanor would be different.
“He's the same way with us,” Titans receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said of Saleh’s mentality. “He's not trying to be down about anything and just sees all the positives that we have moving forward and seeing where we can grow.”
“I do think that's the correct approach,” linebacker Cody Barton echoed. “I mean, I'd rather have that than some dude up there just cussing us out . . . To me, you get way more out of positivity.”
Now, Saleh isn't oblivious, Barton explained. The coach is still up there making corrections and coaching players.
It's just that Saleh describes his approach as, "I've never been a big believer that, 'Well, I'm losing. I've got to start throwing chairs and do all that stuff.' " He's going to keep it constructive. Nothing wrong with that internally. If the Titans do start winning games in Saleh's debut season, he'll get credit for his steady demeanor contributing to a long-awaited turnaround.
But if these Titans don't turn, his many public proclamations are sure to be held against him.
Because Saleh isn’t just hoping for results. He’s promising them. As matter-of-fact as someone who has peered into the future and is returning to guarantee beleaguered Titans fans that it isn’t always going to be this way. That is a seductive message, and that's why those fans need to remain guarded. They've heard it all before.
And if blessed relief is on the way, it still is taking its sweet time.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Robert Saleh's promises about Titans may prove hazardous to his job security | Estes
