The Tennessee Titans officially announced that they’ve hired Gus Bradley to be their defensive coordinator. With that, all three coordinator spots are in place. Brian Daboll was previously hired to oversee the offense, and John “Bones” Fassel was retained on special teams.
The offensive coaching staff has also been filled out with a combination of retention, Daboll connections, and Mike Borgonzi connections. Luke Stocker (TEs) and Randy Jordan (RB) were retained from Brian Callahan’s staff. Greg Lewis
is the new wide receivers coach, Shea Tierney will coach quarterbacks, and Carmen Bricillo is replacing Bill Callahan as the offensive line coach.
The defensive staff is still coming together. With Bradley at DC, Aaron Whitecotton was hired as defensive line coach/run game coordinator. Tony Oden is being retained as cornerbacks coach and pass game coordinator. Marquand Manuel is the latest addition, as safeties coach.
There are two prominent positions still to be filled on Saleh’s defensive staff. No announcements have been made at linebackers coach or nickel coach. Paul Kuharsky was first to report Saleh will be hiring a position coach for the nickel cornerback spot.
The indication is that Frank Bush wasn’t retained as linebackers coach. That’s somewhat unfortunate, because Bush did a great job with Cedric Gray and James Williams last season. One potential candidate is former NFL player K.J. Wright, who played for Saleh in Seattle, where they won Super Bowl XLVIII together. Wright, a Memphis, Tennessee native, joined the 49ers’ coaching staff in 2024 as a defensive quality control coach, meaning he coached under Saleh in 2025.
Saleh also interviewed Falcons coach Mike Rutenberg for the defensive coordinator role that has since gone to Bradley. Rutenberg was Saleh’s linebackers coach throughout his coaching tenure with the New York Jets. Would the Falcons allow him to make a lateral move? Probably not, but perhaps that explains the delay.
It’s a bit more difficult to predict who the nickel coach might be. Cameron Brown and Jake Lynch were defensive quality control coaches for Saleh’s 49ers last season. Former NFL cornerback Ricky Manning was an assistant for Saleh’s Jets and last coached Raiders cornerbacks in 2024.
