Robert Saleh vs. Liam Coen rivalry revisited: The drama the AFC South needed

Sports fans crave rivalries, and coaches who aren't afraid to embrace the hate that one fan base has for another. Look no further than Ben Johnson. When he accepted the coaching job with the Chicago Bears last offseason, he fired a shot at Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur in his introductory press conference, saying he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year. Johnson backed up his talk by sending the Packers home in the wild card round a couple weeks ago.

The AFC South may have just seen a rivalry renewed, as the Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to be their new coach. Saleh had an interaction with Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen earlier this season that made headlines, and it became an interesting story for more reasons than one. Now, these two coaches will get to face off twice a year.

So, what happened between Saleh and Coen this year? Let's take a look back in time.

One passed over for the other

The Saleh vs. Coen drama may have started earlier than we all thought. Peter Schrager of ESPN reported that when the Jaguars were searching for their new coach last year, they narrowed down their choices to two men: Coen and Saleh. 

Ultimately, the Jaguars landed on the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, and it appears to have been a good decision since Jacksonville won the AFC South in Coen's first season with a 13-4 record. Schrager reported that Saleh was "devastated" to not get the Jaguars job, and opted to return to the 49ers.

Robert Saleh to be hired by Titans as 49ers defensive coordinator gets second head coaching shot

Bryan DeArdo

Allegations of a 'legal' sign-stealing operation

As the 49ers prepared for their Week 4 matchup against the Jaguars earlier this season, Saleh spoke to reporters about what he saw from Jacksonville's offense. The defensive coordinator then dropped what was interpreted to be a bombshell allegation -- that Coen and his staff had a "really advanced" sign-stealing operation!

"Liam and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they've got a -- legally -- a really advanced signal-stealing-type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation," Saleh said. "They do a great job of it. They formation you to just try to find any nugget they can. So we've got to be great with our signals and we've gotta be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field."

Saleh said that other McVay disciples, such as Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, are fantastic when it comes to anticipating what opposing defenses want to do, and putting them in undesirable situations. He called it "the ultimate trick."

"They're almost elite in that regard. That whole entire tree from Sean [McVay] to Kevin O'Connell to all of those guys, they all do it," Saleh said. "There's challenges. They're going to catch us in some situations where they have the advantage and we've just got to play sound, fundamental football and do our best to outexecute them."

Naturally, Coen was asked about Saleh's comments the following day. He downplayed the remarks, and said there was nothing unusual about what the Jaguars do. 

"We [are] typically by formation, by game plan, by working really hard as a coaching staff throughout the week, trying to get indicators by your formation, motion, shift, pre-snap; those are the things you're trying to do as a coach if you're trying to put your players in the best position to be successful," Coen said. "It's a lot of hard work that goes into game-planning."

This story had the potential to go away very quickly. Saleh made sure to emphasize that what Coen's staff does is very much legal. However, after a Jaguars' 26-21 upset victory over the 49ers that Sunday, Coen wasn't done with Saleh. 

The confrontation

As the two teams met on the field following the final whistle, cameras picked up Coen and Saleh having words with each other. 

Below is a video of the confrontation. If you want to hear the exchange more clearly, click here.

Here's the exchange:

Coen: "Keep my name out of your mouth. Keep my name out of your f---ing mouth."

Saleh: "I was trying to compliment your ass. I will f--- your world up. You don't wanna f--- with me. I will f---ing end your f--ing life."

Obviously, this was WAY more dramatic than some "icy handshake." It's probably true that Saleh was just trying to compliment Coen, but clearly the Jaguars coach took it as something different!

The aftermath

The following week, Saleh publicly admitted that he "probably used the wrong choice of words" during the interaction with Coen.

"In my heart, genuinely, I was trying to give a compliment," Saleh said, via Fox Sports. "I own the fact that I probably used the wrong choice of words, but however you want to word it, I mean, they're really, really good at putting their players in position to be successful. As coaches, we're always chasing leverage. They're trying to have winning leverage. We're trying to take leverage away. Everyone in the league is trying to find every avenue they can. As a coach watching their tape, I recognize the amount of hours that must be spent to be able to build formations and to find every little indicator they can to give their players a chance to be in a successful position."

While Saleh probably wants to put this saga behind him, the fact of the matter is that Titans fans are excited about the kind of intensity their new lead man showed here. They want someone to come in and breathe life and energy into a franchise that has gone 6-28 over the last two seasons. Hopefully, Saleh carries an energy with him to Nashville that resembles what Johnson brought to Chicago.