Titans CEO Burke Nihill publicly backed coach Robert Saleh and GM Mike Borgonzi on Saturday and apologized to fans for the team's start. ESPN reported that Nihill said the organization believes the two are "ultimately going to get this team out of the woods." The quote carried by r/nfl is more pointed: "I can confidently say this organization is in a place where there is organizational belief in Mike, in Robert, and they absolutely have all the support they need to get this train moving and moving faster."
The backing comes with a history attached. Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith noted that the Titans have fired a head coach or GM in each of the last four years, and framed Nihill's comments as a pledge of patience. Yahoo Sports led with the apology itself, summing it up as "The Titans are sorry for being sorry." Only the Reddit post, which quotes from ESPN's reporting, includes Saleh's own response. He said the team is sticking to its process, which he called "rigorous and detailed," and vowed to put its best foot forward on Sundays. The excerpt cuts off mid-quote.
The record explains why Nihill felt the need to speak. Tennessee is 0-5, fourth in the AFC South, and on a five-game losing streak. The Reddit summary says the offense is averaging a league-low 246.4 yards and 11.6 points per game, and the defense has forced only two turnovers. Our game logs match the scoring figure: the Titans have scored 58 points in five games.
The recent losses have not been close, and they have been getting worse. Tennessee lost 12-7 at the Giants on Sept. 27 and 24-18 at Baltimore on Oct. 4. Last Sunday it lost 26-3 at home to Houston, its lowest scoring output of the season. The offense has scored 20 or more points only once, in a 24-20 home loss to Philadelphia in Week 2. The Titans have also allowed 21.8 points per game, so the problem is not confined to one side of the ball.
Saleh is in his first season in Tennessee. In his four seasons as Jets head coach, 2021 through 2024, his teams went 20-36, according to our coaching records. That makes the owner-level statement of faith more notable, because Saleh has not yet shown any results in this job.
Sun, Oct 18, 1:00 PM ET
The next test is Sunday, Oct. 18, when the Titans play at Indianapolis in an AFC South game. None of the reporting gives a timeline or a benchmark for Saleh or Borgonzi, so the on-field results will be the measure of how long Nihill's patience lasts.
Discussion