Robert Saleh is 1-7 through his first eight games as the Titans' head coach. Brian Callahan went 2-6 through his first eight games with Tennessee. Callahan was fired six games into his second season, when the team was 1-5. Callahan finished 4-19 overall before the Titans let him go.

Their records may be similar, but Saleh's first half-season on the sidelines in Nashville feels much different than Callahan's. Now that we've hit the midway point of the 2026 season, it's time for a side-by-side comparison.

Not only are we conducting a progress report of sorts for Saleh, but we'll also lay out reasons to show that the rest of his tenure has the potential to be much different - to be much better.

Saleh vs. Callahan through eight games with Titans

One-to-two wins being the groundwork for either coach in this comparison is, of course, a terrible start. Even if there's hope to be had with Saleh, it's completely fair to recognize that this Titans team is one loss away from the worst possible start under him.

Of the Titans' eight contests this season, six have been decided in one-score fashion, including the Titans' Week 6 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Tennessee has scored 20+ points four times, and 30+ once.

Looking back to 2024, the results were less predictable. Through eight contests, only four were decided by one score. Tennessee put up 20+ points twice, and 30+ only once. On the surface, Saleh's Titans are playing closer games, and yet losing slightly more.

Even the Titans' 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans this year pales in comparison to the 52-14 drubbing Callahan's team took on the road vs. the Detroit Lions in 2024. Saleh has openly noted that Tennessee has to capitalize late.

The thing with Callahan's opening run? He had the Titans at 3-8 after a Week 12 victory on the road in Houston. After that improbable win, he'd go on to drop six straight to finish the campaign, and 11 of his next 12.

Callahan's late-season break down

In fact, the very next game after his last win of 2024 was a 42-19 blowout at the hands of the Washington Commanders. The wheels completely fell off for now-released QB Will Levis, who threw three interceptions in that stretch and, at one point in December, two games without a score.

Mason Rudolph playing fill-in under center did Callahan's problematic play-calling no favors. Titans fans will surely remember the former HC giving up his play-calling duties just weeks before he was relieved in Nashville. That through-line haunted him well into year two.

Of course, Saleh is calling plays on the defensive side of the ball, and that's unlikely to change. Amani Hooker's three interceptions this past week didn't cover up the 43 points Saleh's defense allowed. He has his own issues in the opposite respect.

Saleh's 2026 squad appears both a step behind (being short one win) and a step ahead of Callahan's 2024 bunch. The Titans' present-day games are demonstrably closer on a weekly basis, and Cam Ward's performance from last week revived expectations that he'll be a long-term guy under center.

But Saleh still must succeed where Callahan failed. The successive coach has to find a way to close contests that Tennessee has failed to win up to this point. Three wins is the floor, and it's arguable that topping that dreaded number is the bar.

Saleh needs to outpace Callahan, close games from here on out

From here on out, the Titans play the Jacksonville Jaguars twice (once at home, once on the road), the Texans and Colts each one more time, as well as the Cowboys, Commanders, the Lions, the Raiders, and the Steelers.

Unlike Callahan's inaugural team, Saleh's has proven they can hang with just about anyone. Last week's road shootout with the 5-2 Cincinnati Bengals proved that, even when missing primary playmakers, the best version of this roster has elite flashes on either side of the ball.

Much of the makeup of these final nine games will have to do with Ward's progress at QB (a huge help for Saleh if he keeps it up), who else the Titans move before the November 10 deadline (if anyone), and how impactful rookies like Carnell Tate and Anthony Hill Jr. can be down the stretch.

But if these first eight games have taught us anything, it's that Saleh and Tennessee will have plenty of opportunities to win games. At the end of the day, it's success that will put Saleh in a different camp than Callahan.

There are reasons between the lines to expect that Saleh's tenure will end differently than the guy's before him. Because the end of Callahan's first season said so much about where he was heading in Tennessee, these next nine games are absolutely critical for Saleh to get over the hump.