NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- There will be a lot of familiar faces in new places when the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants face off at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
All eyes will be on former Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who returns to New York as the Titans’ offensive coordinator. Former Giants assistant coaches Shea Tierney and Carmen Bricillo, along with players Wan’Dale Robinson, Austin Schlottmann, Daniel Bellinger and Cor’Dale Flott, will also make the return to their former team’s field. Waiting for Tennessee will be Giants quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, who was the Titans’ head coach before Robert Saleh was hired, and former Titans, now Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. Although there will be so much familiarity scheme-wise, the Titans believe the deciding factor will be the players’ execution.
“It really comes down to the Jimmys and Joes,” Robinson told ESPN. “You don’t really worry about the X’s and the O’s so much, it’s more about the matchups and who you know you can go after, and I’m sure on their side, they’re doing the same thing.”
Daboll said he’s grateful for the Giants giving him his first opportunity to be a head coach in 2022. He spent just over three seasons there, leading the Giants to a 20-40-1 record, including a divisional playoff game appearance in his first season. The Giants fired Daboll in November 2025 after a 2-8 record. But Daboll said there are no hard feelings and he’s treating this like any other game as he prepares to return to MetLife Stadium.
“It’s a one-week season every week, so you got to put everything you got into it,” Daboll said Thursday. “That’s what it is every week in the National Football League. I have a ton of respect for the people in that organization. From top down to the bottom, really good people in that building. I’ve been on a number of teams that played my former teams before. But it’s about our players.”
Robinson signed a four-year, $70 million deal to follow Daboll to Tennessee. Robinson echoed Daboll’s sentiments, saying there’s no bad blood between him and the Giants. Similar to Daboll, Robinson is excited to face his former team but insists it’s “just another game at the end of the day.”
The Titans’ receivers should get opportunities to make plays against a Giants secondary decimated by injuries. Rookie cornerback Colton Hood was thrust into a starting role last week and allowed four completions on five targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns, primarily matching up with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams, a future Hall of Famer. Under Wilson, New York has resorted to man defense an NFL-high 18.8% of its snaps this season. Regardless of who’s in the secondary, Saleh, who’s very familiar with Wilson’s defenses, is expecting a battle.
“He [Dennard Wilson] and I have had a lot of conversations,” Saleh said. “I think he’s a hell of a football coach. His defenses reflect his personality in that they play their tails off. The back end and the detail at which he coaches from a schematic standpoint is up there with anybody in football.”
Giants safety Tyler Nubin said he has observed similarities in the Titans’ offense under Daboll.
“You know what type of coach Dabs [Daboll] is,” Nubin said. “He wants to be aggressive and likes to use tight ends.”
Titans quarterback Cam Ward has attempted only one pass that traveled 20 yards or more. The tight ends have a total of seven targets in two games this season.
One of the main players around whom Wilson’s defense in Tennessee revolved was Jeffery Simmons, who said he’s more than willing to be a resource for the offense if the unit wants tips. After watching Wilson’s defense on Monday night, Simmons believes the Giants’ style of defense hasn’t changed from what Wilson did in Tennessee. Daboll said he and some of the coaches joked about watching previous years of Titans film as well as the Giants this year to get tendencies from Wilson’s defenses.
Similar to the Giants, Tennessee’s secondary is banged up. CB Flott missed last week’s game because of a quad injury. Flott has been a limited participant in practice this week but said he’s trending toward playing Sunday, just in time to face his former team. But Flott has no ill will toward the Giants, who he said allowed him to showcase his talent enough to earn a three-year, $45 million deal with the Titans.
While with the Giants, Flott got to line up against wide receiver Malik Nabers in practice. Getting to face Nabers in a game when it counts will be one of the highlights of the week for Flott.
“It’s going to be fun,” Flott said. “I can’t wait to see him talk s---, have fun and compete. That’s just what me and Malik do.”
Of course, winning the game will be the biggest goal for everyone traveling to New York. But Schlottman, who spent two years with the Giants, is looking forward to something else.
“I’m excited to get a bagel from up there,” Schlottman said. “That’s about the only thing I’m super excited about. This is another opportunity for us to go out there and execute and win. It’s nothing more than that, nothing less than that. It’s just that’s what it is: the next game.”
