Saleh Named Titans Head Coach, Realizing His Father's
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- Robert Saleh was named head coach of the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 19, with his father Sam, wife Sanaa, and their eight children seated in the front row at his introductory news conference in Nashville.
- Sam Saleh was a standout middle linebacker at Fordson High School who earned a tryout with the Chicago Bears before a severe knee injury ended his playing career; he went into construction to provide for his family and never realized his own coaching aspirations.
- Robert Saleh left an $800-per-week loan-evaluation job at Comerica Bank in 2001 to pursue coaching after his brother David survived 9/11 — David had started working at Morgan Stanley on the 61st floor of the south tower just two days before the attacks.
- Robert Saleh began his coaching career as an offensive assistant at Michigan State in 2002 making $600 a month, and later became the first Muslim head coach in NFL history when the New York Jets hired him in 2021.
- The New York Jets fired Saleh in 2024 after a 2-3 start (20-36 overall); he then served as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers and as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025 before landing his second head-coaching opportunity.
- The Saleh family is of Lebanese descent and deeply rooted in Dearborn, Michigan, where Sam was among the first Arab Americans to make a mark in football and where Robert, now 47, overcame early fears of the sport to launch his own career.
Why it matters: For Saleh, the Titans hire is a career reset after his 2024 firing from the Jets, and a personal milestone as the first Muslim head coach in NFL history. For his father Sam, who abandoned his own playing dreams to work construction, watching his son lead an NFL franchise is a decades-old family ambition finally realized.
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