Cam Ward is heading into his sophomore season as the starting quarterback, and his new head coach, Robert Saleh, has placed his full trust in him to succeed for the Tennessee Titans. Ward, the team's No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, didn't participate in the team's preseason loss to the Chicago Bears, 24-15, but showed glimpses of his potential last season. He's shown enough in Saleh's brief time as the team's head coach this offseason for him to make a bold claim about Ward, even staking his job on it.
Obviously, I put my job on that one, but he’s not gonna fail. He’s special,” Saleh said in part of his remarks after Saturday’s final preseason game. Along with that, Saleh praised Ward for a lack of stubbornness and indicated "he's not stuck," suggesting that the young QB "wants to learn, wants to evolve, wants to grow." More news: Eagles Rookie WR Makai Lemon Roasted After Brutal Preseason Performance "The conversations are very mature for his age.
He's much deeper than you would think for a young, hotshot quarterback," Saleh told reporters. Last season, Ward was healthy and started in all 17 games. He completed 323 of 540 passes for 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns, with just seven interceptions.
Despite a passer rating of 80.2, he still finished the season with a low QBR of 33.2, showing he certainly has room to develop and grow. Ward is now working with his third head coach in just two seasons. The team fired Brian Callahan in October of last NFL season, who had a 4-19 record since 2024.
Senior offensive assistant Mike McCoy took over as the Titans' interim head coach for the remaining 11 games last season, and went 2-9. This offseason, the team hired Saleh as head coach for the 2026 season. Saleh takes on the Titans' head coaching job after working as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers last season.
However, he also has NFL head coaching experience with the New York Jets from 2021 to 2024. Teams want their players and coaches to deliver successful results, and that's absolutely what the Titans will want. Having the Chicago Bears' former No. 1 pick, Caleb Williams, play under new coach Ben Johnson last season may prove that this could work in Ward and Saleh's favor.
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