Titans Pivot Offensively Under Robert Saleh, With Cam Ward’s Development at the Center
NASHVILLE - The NFL has long been a copycat league, and for the past few years, the Shanahan-style wide-zone offense has been the blueprint. It’s rhythm-based, heavy on motion, and built around play-action - and it’s everywhere. So when a coach like Robert Saleh, who spent five years working alongside Kyle Shanahan, takes over a new team, the natural assumption is that he’d stick with what he knows.
But Saleh isn’t just zigging when others zag - he’s flipping the script entirely in Tennessee.
Instead of leaning into the familiar, Saleh is handing the offensive reins to Brian Daboll and installing an Erhardt-Perkins system. It’s a significant departure from the Shanahan tree - more about shared concepts and option routes than fixed route trees.
Think less about timing and more about flexibility. It’s a system that demands a high level of communication, recognition, and quarterback command.
And that’s exactly the kind of environment Saleh wants to create for Cam Ward.
“There is a level of game planning [against us] that is going to have to change within a week,” Saleh said. “Dabes has had a history of developing young quarterbacks in this league, in college...
As a defensive guy, game-planning against him, what he does, I can tell you that he’s always going to strain you, both run and pass. He’s going to find the run-pass conflicts within your scheme for individual players; he’s going to attack the shit out of it.
He’s special in that regard.”
That’s high praise from a defensive-minded head coach who’s faced Daboll’s offenses from the other side. But it also underscores the vision: this isn’t just about being different for the sake of it. It’s about building something that fits the quarterback they believe in.
Ward, who was present at Saleh’s introductory press conference alongside a group of players, is currently rehabbing a shoulder injury suffered in the season finale. According to GM Mike Borgonzi, the young quarterback is progressing well. And while there’s plenty of excitement around his talent, Saleh is making it clear: this is going to be a process.
He called Ward “an immense talent,” someone who’s “fun to watch” and “cool to be around.” But the focus isn’t on turning him loose right away - it’s about giving him the right structure to grow.
Saleh pointed to the early days of Tom Brady - not the GOAT version, but the young quarterback who handed the ball off, relied on an elite defense, and made clutch throws in key moments. That’s the model.
“The best way to develop a quarterback is to give him a team that doesn’t make him feel like he needs to be Superman,” Saleh said. “At least early on.
There is going to be a time as Cam continues to develop where he can put this entire organization on his shoulders and lead it to a win. But asking that of a young kid, I think, is unrealistic.”
That’s not limiting - it’s smart sequencing. Saleh and Daboll aren’t trying to cap Ward’s potential; they’re building a system that allows him to grow into it.
The offense won’t ask him to carry the team every play. Instead, it’s designed to keep him grounded in the structure, making smart decisions, and leaning on the talent around him.
That’s going to require a shift for Ward, who’s already been through five offensive coordinators since college. Daboll will be his sixth - but this time, the goal is to reset.
Start fresh. Build from the ground up.
“I don’t want to put a straitjacket on him either,” Saleh said. “They all believe that they belong, all believe that they are Supermen.
So for Cam it’s just helping him understand what’s most important in that moment and helping him develop a mindset that he doesn’t have to be a hero. It’s OK to rely on your teammates.”
That’s the message in Tennessee right now: Cam Ward doesn’t need to save the Titans. He just needs to grow within a system that supports him, with a coaching staff that understands how to bring young quarterbacks along the right way.
It’s a fresh start for the Titans - and for Ward, it just might be the perfect one.