Since the NFL expanded to an eight-division format in 2002 with the introduction of the Houston Texans, the AFC South has the fewest wins in that 24 year span with 739 victories, 24 fewer than the next closest division (NFC West) in that window. Additionally, the AFC South has produced just 1 Super Bowl winner (the 2006 Indianapolis Colts) and only one franchise that has appeared in the Super Bowl (again, the Colts), which is the fewest of any division across the National Football League.
With that said, the developments within the AFC South over the last six months could be viewed as a sign that things are trending a different direction in the league's most-maligned division. Both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans went to the Playoffs this past year, and at the halfway point of the season, the Indianapolis Colts could make a claim that they were the best team in the AFC before a stunning second-half collapse knocked them out of Playoff contention.
With the benefit of continuity, the Texans, Jaguars and Colts should all remain competitive in 2026, which makes for an intriguing three-team race to see who can clinch a Playoff spot and at least one home game in the postseason. But even for the franchise that was in a distant fourth place in 2025 -- the Tennessee Titans -- things are looking up.
The 2025 season went off the rails early for the Titans. While rookie quarterback Cam Ward struggled to find his footing, it was head coach Brian Callahan who paid the price, getting axed halfway through the season following a tenure that was as brief as it was unsuccessful.
But with Ward entering year two and some intriguing talent elsewhere on the roster, there's bound to be plenty of buzz that Tennessee could be the team in 2026 that makes a worst-to-first turnaround. This will be due in part to what was in place in 2025, but also a product of the new coaching staff in place in Nashville, spearheaded by new head coach Robert Saleh.
Saleh was something of a polarizing head coaching candidate thanks to a disappointing stint as the head coach of the New York Jets. But Saleh's chances of success in the Big Apple was submarined by organizational dysfuction that both predated and was faciliated by the tenure of enigmatic veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Despite that 20-36 run in New York between 2021 and 2024, Saleh's standing as a brilliant defensive mind and motivator maintains, as evidenced by the fact that he seemed to always get the most out of his units as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco. To a man, every former player who has been coached by Saleh in this manner speaks highly of the 47-year-old coach... including Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
Al-Shaair played for Saleh during his first two seasons in the NFL in 2019 and 2020, and the undrafted linebacker was set up for success thanks in part to his coordinator.
Now Azeez Al-Shaair will be standing on the opposite sideline of Robert Saleh twice each season, and he knows that Saleh's presence should make the Titans a much more difficult opponent to have to deal with than they have been each of the last two seasons.
"Happy for him, but I was like, golly! Man, the division was already tough, and it just got a lot tougher. Coach Saleh is an amazing coach, an amazing person. And I think he landed in a great spot in Tennessee, because they have a great foundation, and the core guys that they have I think will love playing for him," Al-Shaair said, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. "I think if you mix passion and the brain and the knowledge he has for the game, you put those things together, a leader of men, and the way he knows how to relay the message, I think that is going to be something that is extremely good for the entire Titans organization."
One of those players that Al-Shaair spotlighted is Jeffery Simmons, a five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle who made 1st Team All-Pro for the first time in his career last season despite the organizational upheaval in Tennessee. Having spent one season as a teammate of Simmons during the 2023 campaign, Al-Shaair knows that the big fella who anchors the Titans defense is going to reap the benefits of playing for Saleh.
"I'm like, oh gosh, the player that Jeff already is without having a coach like Saleh, now being in that type of scheme, it's going to help elevate his game even more, which is already tough to do – he is coming off a career high in sacks," Al-Shaair noted.