Robert Saleh just lit a fire under the Jaguars rivalry with the Titans

When the Jacksonville Jaguars were searching for a head coach, Robert Saleh was among the favorites to fill the vacancy. At the time, he was coming off a three-year stint with the New York Jets, and his experience was seen as a plus. But ultimately, the Jags hired Liam Coen, and Saleh joined the San Francisco 49ers as their defensive coordinator.

One year later, Saleh officially joined the AFC South when he became the head coach for the Tennessee Titans. And based on his latest interaction with Coen, the rivalry between these two divisional teams just became more heated than it already was.

The Jaguars will have to face Robert Saleh twice a year

After interviewing several candidates for their opening, the Titans hired Robert Saleh as their head coach. He and Matt Nagy were the finalists for the job. As of this writing, Tennessee hasn't made an official announcement or given a reason for choosing Saleh, but it's possible that they were drawn to his leadership skills and defensive acumen.

Regardless of the reason, Saleh will now be with the Titans for the foreseeable future, which means that he'll face Liam Coen and the Jaguars twice a year.

This is noteworthy because Saleh — before Jacksonville faced off against the 49ers in Week 4 — accused Coen and his staff of stealing signals legally. The remarks lead Coen to confront him in the aftermath of the game, telling him to take his name off his mouth.

Saleh apologized afterwards, noting that he might have used the wrong wording when trying to praise Coen and his team. Either way, the damage was done.

Related: Top 5 pleasant surprises for the Jags in 2026

Liam Coen will have the Jaguars ready to face Robert Saleh and the Titans

Liam Coen is the kind of coach who will scrape the bottom of the barrel to find a reason to motivate his team. Against the 49ers, it was the signal-stealing. When Jacksonville faced the Broncos, the Jaguars rallied behind the fact that they were a small-market team. When they play the Titans in 2026, expect the second-year head coach to bring up that time Robert Saleh accused them of stealing signals, even after he apologized.

And that's the thing, the Jags don't like the Indianapolis Colts or the Houston Texans, but they don't despise those two AFC South rivals as much as Tennessee. If Jacksonville needs to win two games every year, it has to be against the Titans.

Although the Jags swapped Tennessee in 2025, there's no doubt that this is one heated rivalry. Back in 2022 and 2023, these two division foes knocked each other out of playoff contention in the finale. Heck, they've faced each other in Week 18 three of the last four seasons, so don't be surprised if the NFL schedules them to play in the finale once again in 2026.

The bottom line is that the Titans just fanned the flames of their rivalry with the Jaguars when they hired Robert Saleh. That probably wasn't on their mind, or was the reason they hired him, but it will certainly have ripple effects. One of them was that they turned their division games into must-see TV in 2026.