Titans CEO apologizes for 0-5 start but says Saleh, Borgonzi have team’s backing

Tennessee Titans CEO Burke Nihill apologized to the team’s fans for the franchise’s poor start while saying coach Robert Saleh and general manager Mike Borgonzi will have time to try to reverse it.

Nihill, speaking to ESPN on Friday, said the organization believes in both football executives and has no immediate plan to abandon the direction established by owner Amy Adams-Strunk. He said the team needs to regain momentum, not restart its football operation again.

That message comes with the Titans at 0-5 in Saleh’s first season. The NFL’s official team page lists Tennessee last in the AFC South and shows the club preparing to visit the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, October 18, 2026.

The early results have been particularly poor on offense. ESPN reported that Tennessee is averaging 246.4 yards and 11.6 points per game, both league lows at the time of the report. The defense has produced only two takeaways.

The broader decline has made the vote of confidence more consequential. Tennessee has won only six games dating to the 2023 season and has dropped 33 of its past 39 games, according to ESPN. The current losing streak began in Week 17 of last season and has reached seven games.

Nihill’s comments also address an organization that has repeatedly changed leadership. ESPN reported that the Titans have dismissed either a coach or general manager every year since 2022. The NFL previously reported that Saleh is Tennessee’s third full-time head coach in four seasons and that Borgonzi is the franchise’s fifth general manager since 2015, excluding an interim appointment.

That instability helps explain why the Titans are emphasizing continuity despite the record. Replacing another coach or executive would create a new timetable for developing the roster and quarterback Cam Ward, while keeping the current structure gives Saleh and Borgonzi a chance to demonstrate that the team can improve without another reset.

The immediate evidence will come on the field. Tennessee’s next game is against the Colts, followed by home and road games against Cleveland and Cincinnati. Those matchups will not settle the franchise’s long-term direction, but they will show whether the offense can move away from the bottom of the league and whether the team’s process is producing competitive games.

For now, Nihill’s position is clear: the Titans accept responsibility for the results, but ownership is not treating the 0-5 start as proof that Saleh and Borgonzi should be replaced. The organization’s promise of patience will be measured against whether performance begins to change.