NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Greetings from the country music capital of the world. Dolly Parton’s death has certainly cast a pall over this magnificent city. Has anyone drawn such universal praise? The one thing everyone from all walks of life can agree on is that Dolly was the best. RIP.
I spent some time around these Tennessee Titans for stories you’ll see in the future.
Cannot wait to share.
Until then — like we did with the Bills and Ravens — here are some quick thoughts…
The Ward-Daboll Dynamic
One quote from one source inside the New York Giants’ building sticks me watching practice here. This person very familiar with Brian Daboll’s coaching style was fascinated by the new union in Tennessee because, in his words, Cam Ward “will bark back.”
We know “Dabes” brings the fire, the passion, all emotions 24/7. It’s one of the main reasons he was so beloved as the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator — especially where it mattered most. He forged a father-son relationship with Josh Allen. To this date, the MVP quarterback would be the first to say he’s indebted to Daboll. There are teammates who believe those Bills would’ve won a Super Bowl (or two) if their OC was the head coach.
After winning Coach of the Year in Year 1 with the Giants, however, the L’s piled up and he was fired.
Buffalo interviewed him for the top job this offseason, and chose Joe Brady.
So, Daboll took his next best offer. As the Titans’ new offensive coordinator — under head man Robert Saleh — he’s got to have the same Midas touch with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft. Work magic with Ward and, like Saleh, he’ll get a second chance at being an NFL head coach.
It didn’t work out in New York for many reasons. The contrast in the personalities of Daboll and Daniel Jones ranks near the top of the list. These two were oil and water.
So, sure. I get the early concern here in Nashville. This hasn’t been a pretty summer for the offense in practice or the exhibition games. The growing pains are real. But here’s thinking the union has a shot to work because of the two personalities involved.
No words will be minced. Transparency will reign.
“They were meant for each other,” Titans running back Tyjae Spears says. “They’re a perfect match for each other.”
The dynamic isn’t too different than the one we analyzed in Minnesota. Coaches who had Kyler Murray in Arizona insist you’ve got to be (very) vocal and (very) profane with this quarterback. That’s the style Murray desires. That’s what takes him to a different level. (“You’ve got to say: ‘Hey motherfucker, throw him the ball.’ And he had that with us,” one ex-Cardinals coach told me. “Kyler wants to be challenged. He wants to be coached. He wants you to push the envelope with him.”)
Getting to this place requires a conscious effort beyond the practice field.
That’s a strength for Daboll. He wants to know the person before the player, and took six months doing that with Ward.
Last season was a disaster. Head coach Brian Callahan was fired six games in and the QB’s supporting cast was decimated. Ward supplied enough wow throws to entice Daboll to take the job, and then Tennessee signed Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency and drafted Carnell Tate. What makes me think Ward still has a realistic shot to succeed is everything we don’t see on the practice field. These are two solution-driven, extreme competitors who won’t get into their feelings. Jones, conversely, could get a bit too sensitive in New Jersey.
The days of this AFC South being a color-rushing laughingstock are over. Houston brings back the NFL’s best defense, Jacksonville Jaguars went 13-4 and let’s not forget Jones had Indianapolis at 8-2 before injuries hijacked their season.
There’s risk in the schematic fit. Daboll spreads the field out and encourages the quarterback to attack vertically. Ward is a gambler. Nate Tice and Matt Harmon made those X ‘n O points here on their Yahoo podcast. Their breakdown makes a lot of sense.
Perhaps, however, it’s time for a franchise that’s gone 6-28 the last two seasons to play with play fire.
There’s a reason Ward was the first player picked in the draft.
There’s a reason Daboll’s Bills lit it up.
I like the fact that both are Type A’s who won’t hold a damn thing back.
If we learn anything from the new Vince Young doc on Netflix, it’s that no young quarterback has a chance if he’s not in-sync with his coaches. This is forever a relationship business.
Here’s how Spears describes his quarterback:
“A great leader. A go-getter. Very confident. And one day he’s going to win big. He’s going to win real, real big. It’s who he is and he shows up. And that’s a good thing about him, too. He shows up consistent every day. He’s a great leader because he’s got to lead a forest, and that’s us.
“He was born to be a winner. He was born to be a leader.”
If the lights turn on in 2026, Daboll will be the catalyst.
Players appreciate his style behind the scenes. To the OC, communication and honesty is a two-way street.
“Dabes is a great leader, great man. Great man,” Spears says. “The way he approaches us, the way he respects us, the way he communicates with us. When he’s wrong, that takes a lot. When a man will come to you in their face and tells you when they’re wrong or tells you some things that they need to improve on? It takes a lot because a lot of people don’t have enough balls to say that. He always steps in. If he did something wrong, he’s the first one to let us know. Is he going to let us slide for the shit we do? No, he’s going to call us out, too.”
Also: On this week’s episode of “Real Football,” we discuss and debate Brian Daboll’s impact in Buffalo and what’s next.
What did NFL scouts think of Cam Ward out of college? Here’s Bob McGinn’s QB piece from the 2025 draft series:
Saleh’s Defense.
Here’s a fun game. Pull up any San Francisco 49ers game from late last season and try to name three players on defense. Robert Saleh guiding this motley crew through 12 wins might’ve been the single-best defensive coaching job of the 2025 season.
Expect the Titans’ defense to fight. Despite all unknowns on offense, Saleh’s presence alone makes me think the floor is seven wins. He’ll win a few games the Titans have no business winning.
Plays were made all over the field at Tuesday’s practice. Alontae Taylor, Kevin Winston Jr., Mario Goodrich III and Tony Adams all picked off passes. Nothing was easy for the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive units. Saleh’s fingerprints on this defense are evident. Guys break on the ball, finish plays, swagger all over the field. One early indicator for a defense’s identity is how aggressive cornerbacks are in the run game. These Titans corners are clearly willing tacklers.
It’ll take time. Tennessee needs pass rushers.
But they’ll have an identity this fall and that’s a start.
Saleh was never the main problem in New York.
100 Million Dollar Men
For the tone Saleh must set, I like Tennessee’s front office investing in these two players.
Jeffrey Simmons (three years, $105.8 million): Fourth-highest paid defensive tackle in football.
Peter Skoronski (four years, $100 million): Highest-paid guard in football.
Both are proven. Both are two of the best interior players in the sport that make the players to their left and right better. If the Titans can claw their way to a .500 season, expect another round of spending next spring.
Clean slate
Both coordinators — Daboll and Gus Bradley — spoke on Tuesday. One theme? The Titans are very much in the discovery phase of figuring out who’ll fit into their vision. Playcalling on both sides of the ball has been vanilla. They’re not trying to see which plays will work or not work.
Simply, this was a dreadful football team last season.
Bad contracts coupled with bad draft picks spiraled Tennessee to the basement.
The Titans shook up the roster as much as they could this offseason. This summer is all about seeing who in the hell they want to build with long term.
Bradley: “You’re still working on your fundamental principles in preseason games. You’re playing your coverages and you’re really honed in on your skillset of the player, how good are we fundamentally. More so than, ‘Hey, this is a tendency that we have. Let’s go ahead and execute this pressure or execute this coverage.’ You’re not seeing a lot of that in preseason. You’re seeing more, ‘Can we execute? And can we execute with a high level of fundamental work?’ It’s a change of mindset. You’re still evaluating personnel at this stage. We will this week. You might have a number of guys to decide on, but who are the other guys you’re looking at? So it’s important to put them in position. That’s what we did in the game. Play more vanilla so we can see them operate in space. Try not to have a lot of thinking going on.”
Daboll: “I appreciate their attitude. I appreciate their commitment to learning this stuff. There’s been a lot of good execution and then when there’s not as good execution—the defense plays well, too—they’ve done a great job of coming in collectively, watching the tape, going through it, making corrections and we talk about: ‘Don’t be an error repeater and make the same mistake twice.’ That’s what training camp is for. Let’s make sure we’re diving into the information. We’re going to make mistakes. When we get it again, let’s make sure we nail that one.
“I’m pleased with where we’re. I’m pleased with mentally where we’re at. When I say ‘pleased,’ I’m not happy. We want to score points every time we go out on the field. But the process in which the coaches are going through with the players, the process I see the players have, we’re going to keep building on that. Ultimately, it comes down to execution. That’s what we’re working hard on.”
Coming Friday AM…
Our next 2026 NFL Season Preview Feature profiles “Big John” Simpson in Baltimore. “Shit’s going to be hard,” he tells us. “That’s life.” Wouldn’t he know, too. Simpson had every reason to paint himself a victim growing up and, instead, broke a generational curse. Now, he’s been handpicked as a missing piece to bring the nasty back to Baltimore and get this team to a Super Bowl.
Being a Giants fan - I’m not a big fan of Daboll. Daboll is not a head coach. He alienated his coordinators. He had difficulty in managing his offensive coordinator- repeatedly throwing him under a bus. Was Daboll the Offensive coordinator or the head coach. (Won’t get into the relationship with the defensive coordinators because it’s not relevant)
How much blame does he get for the ineffective play of the offense when he was with the Giants? How much blame does he get for encouraging Dart to play as reckless as he did? I will concede that he did get good play out of Allen, but what other team can you point to that he was responsible for their development?
I think he’s going to conflict with Saleh. I think that Wandale is overpaid for what he does. He averaged 10 yards per reception. Didn’t break a lot of tackles.
Not rooting for or against him. His success or failure has no bearing on the Giants. He wasn’t effective with them, and he needed to go. But until he has success with someone other than Allen he will be overrated. Let’s see what happens
I’m not a believer in Ward. He played at no schools until he had 1 great season at Miami. He isn’t great at reading pre-snap so he will need the O line to set protections. If the Titans are evaluating their talent I sure hope it goes to the QB and if they have a high draft pick next year they better think about a QB because there will be a few who are much better then him available.