NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Brian Cushing was a first-round draft pick in 2009, talented and ready to make an immediate impact. Robert Saleh was a newly promoted assistant coach, working under Johnny Holland with the Houston Texans’ linebackers.
Saleh spent extra time with Cushing, work that helped fuel the linebacker’s breakout and offered an early example of the impact the Titans’ new coach could have on players — and the kind of influence Mike Borgonzi hopes Saleh will bring to Tennessee.
“It was learning to watch film and how it changes every single week and giving me hypothetical situations in a certain play.” Cushing said. “’They come out in this personnel and we call this, what are you doing? If they motion this guy, what are you doing?’ Just giving me a ton of examples and scenarios before I even played that made me comfortable going into the game.
“Ninety percent of what he said happened. So I was really well prepared. He’s really into the details and really big in preparation, getting guys as absolutely ready as possible.”
Cushing showed up everywhere as a rookie, with four interceptions and 10 passes defensed, four sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 12 tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles. He got 78 percent of the votes en route to Defensive Rookie of the Year and was a Pro Bowler.
Another linebacker from that Texans era was DeMeco Ryans, now an AFC South coaching colleague of Saleh’s, whose Houston team won the division with the NFL’s top yardage, second-best scoring and sixth-best third-down defense.
After he worked with Cushing and Ryans in Houston, and after time in Seattle, Saleh got a linebacker room of his own in Jacksonville as part of Gus Bradley’s staff.
“They want to be treated like men, and they want to be treated with respect,” Saleh told the team’s website in February of 2014. “They want you to teach them something and help them perform on Sundays and help them maximize their abilities as individuals.”
Those were the same principles Cushing saw early in Houston -- and the same ones that followed Saleh through every stop in his career.
Paul Posluszny told me he played his best football under Saleh in Jacksonville.
Now Saleh remains at work, putting his staff together. The Titans will introduce their self-assured top man Thursday afternoon.
“That confidence comes from years of experience,” Cushing said. “Knowing what he’s talking about and knowing what he’s teaching.”