Sources: Titans finalizing deal to make Robert Saleh coach

Tennessee also had completed an in-person interview with Matt Nagy on Monday.

Saleh is set to become the 20th coach in Oilers/Titans history and the seventh since the team moved to Nashville in 1997. He’ll take over a team that fired Brian Callahan in mid-October and ended up finishing 3-14 but has a young quarterback in Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick last year.

The Titans’ brass originally scheduled a virtual interview with Saleh on Sunday, but it elected to expedite the process by having him come to Nashville for an in-person meeting Monday after hosting Nagy, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, earlier in the day.

Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi leaned toward Nagy given their time together in Kansas City, where Borgonzi had been assistant GM. However, encouragement from team ownership pushed the decision to Saleh, according to a source.

This will be Saleh’s second stint as a head coach. He served as the Jets’ coach from 2021 to 2024 after a four-year run as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator that included a Super Bowl appearance after the 2020 season.

Saleh’s time with the Jets never got on track, even though New York traded for future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in hopes of jumpstarting the coach’s third season. Rodgers ruptured his left Achilles in the 2023 season opener, and the Jets finished 7-10. The next season, with Rodgers back, Saleh was fired after five games. He finished with a 20-36 record in New York.

Among the lessons Saleh said he learned in New York was to better connect with the whole roster, which is what he worked on during his second stint with the 49ers despite being the defensive coordinator. That coincides with some of the traits Borgonzi has said he wanted in the next coach.

“That person ultimately has to connect everybody in the building,” Borgonzi said. “You have to have that balance of being demanding, connecting people in the building and just bringing people together.”

The Titans have not made the playoffs since 2021 when they were the AFC’s top seed and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round under former coach Mike Vrabel.

The first order for Saleh, a defensive-minded coach, will be to find an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who can help Ward develop into their franchise quarterback.

The Titans also are set to move into a new stadium in 2027.

Dolphins hire Packers DC Jeff Hafley as head coach

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Peter Schrager explains how the Dolphins landed Jeff Hafley as their next head coach. (0:48)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins hired Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as their next head coach, it was announced on Monday night.

“I believe great things are ahead for the Miami Dolphins with Jeff Hafley leading the way,” Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross said in a statement released by the team. “Jeff is an accomplished coach with a proven track record as a leader and motivator. He has tenacity and grit, while at the same time establishing trust with his players in order to get the most out of them.”

The Dolphins signed Hafley to a five-year contract, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Hafley, 46, interviewed with the Dolphins for a second time Monday.

He joins new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, whom the Dolphins hired to replace longtime GM Chris Grier this month. Sullivan and Hafley overlapped for the past two seasons together in Green Bay.

Hafley spent two seasons as the Packers’ defensive coordinator, during which Green Bay ranked ninth in yards allowed per game, sixth in yards per play and eighth in points allowed per game.

Micah Parsons, the Packers’ star pass rusher, congratulated Hafley in a post to X, writing: “Genuinely happy for haf! Great guy great person! Gonna miss his energy!”

The Dolphins have not won a playoff game in 25 seasons, the longest such drought in the NFL, per ESPN Research. Miami last won a playoff game on Dec. 30, 2000, against the Indianapolis Colts, when Hafley was a senior at Siena.

Before his time in Green Bay, Hafley was the head coach at Boston College, where he went 22-26 in four seasons.

Hafley is the eighth straight head coach hired by the Dolphins who had no previous NFL head coaching experience, according to ESPN Research. The last Dolphins head coach with previous NFL experience was Dave Wannstedt (2000).

Hafley’s only other NFL coaching experience before his time with the Packers was as a defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers from 2012 to 2018. His coaching career began in 2001 as Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s running backs coach, morphing into stops at Albany, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Ohio State, where he was the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator in 2019.

Miami is headed toward a reset after firing Grier during the season and head coach Mike McDaniel days after the final game. In an interview with the team’s in-house media, Sullivan mentioned multiple players as building blocks moving forward, including Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Paul, Aaron Brewer and De’Von Achane.

The GM did not mention quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was benched late this season and whose future with the team is unclear.

Bills fire coach Sean McDermott after 9 seasons, no Super Bowls

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Adam Schefter reports on the Bills’ decision to fire Sean McDermott after nine seasons. (1:34)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday after another season that failed to end in a Super Bowl appearance, but the team did promote Brandon Beane to president of football operations.

“Sean has done an admirable job of leading our football team for the past 9 seasons,” owner Terry Pegula said in a statement. “But I feel we are in need of a new structure within our leadership to give this organization the best opportunity to take our team to the next level. We owe that to our players and to Bills Mafia.”

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The Bills lost 33-30 to the Denver Broncos in overtime of the AFC divisional round, marking another year of falling short in the playoffs. It was the fourth time in five seasons that the Bills exited in the divisional round.

McDermott, 51, leaves Buffalo with a 98-50 record and an 8-8 mark in the postseason, including two AFC championship losses to the Kansas City Chiefs (2020, 2024 seasons). He won five consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2024, finishing second at 12-5 behind the New England Patriots this season.

“Sean helped change the mindset of this organization and was instrumental in the Bills becoming a perennial playoff team,” Pegula said in his statement. “I respect all the work, loyalty and attention to detail he showed for this team and the community.”

McDermott issued his own statement to NFL Network on Monday, thanking the Bills’ organization, its fans and the Pegula family.

“For nearly a decade I have had the opportunity to wake up every morning as the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills, which has truly been a gift,” McDermott said. “… I am proud and humbled to have worked alongside amazing staff and players as we shared life together and poured out our hearts and souls into both winning football games and making a positive impact in our community.”

McDermott could emerge as a head coaching candidate for other NFL teams that now have an opening. McDermott told his staff on Monday that he intends to continue coaching, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Besides the Bills, seven NFL teams currently have coaching vacancies: Miami, Tennessee, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Arizona and Cleveland.

Beane, who will remain in his role as general manager in addition to taking on increased responsibilities as president of football operations, will lead the team’s search for a new coach as Buffalo prepares to debut a new stadium next season.

“Brandon will oversee all facets of our football operation,” Pegula said. “… I have full faith in and have witnessed Brandon’s outstanding leadership style and have confidence in his abilities to lead our organization.”

Beane was hired by the Bills just months after McDermott in 2017.

Falling Just Short

The Bills’ 91 victories, including playoffs, from the 2019 through the 2025 seasons are the most over a seven-season span without a Super Bowl appearance.

7-YR SPAN
TEAM
WINS

2019-25
Bills
91

2018-24
Bills
84

2018-24
Ravens
81

1999-05
Colts
80

>>ESPN Research

The loss to the Broncos continued the Bills’ streak of not reaching the Super Bowl since becoming the only team in NFL history to lose four straight from 1990 to 1993. And it extended their record of the most wins in a seven-season span without a Super Bowl appearance, including playoffs (91).

The change will lead to reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen, 29, having a new coach for the first time in his professional career. Allen is going into his ninth NFL season next year and has the most playoff wins (eight) and starts (15) by any quarterback without a Super Bowl start in the Super Bowl era.

The postgame locker room and news conference following Saturday’s loss was a more emotional one than after the team’s other recent exits with Allen tearing up on the podium. McDermott pronounced he was defending both Buffalo and the entire organization after a lengthy answer about a controversial call by the referees in overtime.

McDermott went 0-3 in postseason overtimes during his Bills career.

McDermott’s 98-50 record in the regular season marked the second-best winning percentage and second-most wins in the league during that time (behind only the Chiefs). He led the team to break a historic 18-year playoff drought in 2017.

Imperfect 10s

The Bills have won at least 10 regular-season games in seven consecutive seasons, which is the tied for fifth in the Super Bowl Era (since 1966). However, they are the only team of those top six to have not made an appearance in the Super Bowl.

STREAK
TEAM
MADE SB

2003-19 (17)
Patriots
8

1983-98 (16)
49ers
4

2015-24 (10)
Chiefs
5

2002-10 (9)
Colts
2

2019-25 (7)
Bills
0

1975-81 (7)
Cowboys
3

>>ESPN Research

Defensive tackles Jordan Phillips and DaQuan Jones showed their frustration at McDermott’s firing in Instagram story posts.

“This s— here is so stupid honestly sickening,” Phillips posted. “The best coach I’ve ever been around.”

Posted Jones: “Don’t make sense but ya got what ya wanted.”

McDermott has been a consistent defender of Buffalo, often speaking up about what the western New York community means to him and the drive of establishing a culture and bringing a Super Bowl title to the area for the first time.

“Bills Mafia, you are one of one!” McDermott said in his statement. “It has been a joy and inspiration to witness your passion and commitment first hand. I always wanted our teams to play with the same level of toughness and grit that is true to Buffalo and that you demonstrate every day! … Thank you for allowing me to serve as your head coach.”

Since 2019, the Bills have the most wins in a seven-season stretch without a Super Bowl appearance, including playoffs. The Bills became the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to win a playoff game in six straight seasons; the previous three all won Super Bowls in those spans.

The Bills’ top priority is winning with Allen, who turns 30 in May. He is coming off a down year, throwing for 25 touchdowns — his fewest since his second season in 2019 — and having been sacked a career-high 40 times. He also ran for 14 touchdowns (second most of his career).

The Bills had one of the league’s best rushing offenses, led by James Cook, who became Buffalo’s first player to win the NFL’s rushing title since O.J. Simpson in 1976. The running scheme was designed by offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, who announced his retirement Sunday.

McDermott led the Bills’ defense, which allowed the third-fewest points per game (20.2) in the regular season during his tenure. That number, however, jumped to 28.7 points given up in road playoff games, where the Bills went 1-7 since 2017.

This year’s unit, which ranked 12th in defensive efficiency, ended up being the more reliable side of the ball late in the season, finishing as the league’s leading pass defense (156.9 yards per game). That, however, was impacted by issues that were consistent against the run, as the Bills gave up 136.2 rushing yards per game (fifth most in the NFL).

Buffalo was McDermott’s first job as a head coach, hired after being the defensive coordinator for both the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles.