Time heals all, they say. Let Liam Coen and Robert Saleh stand as the latest proof.
Six months after their dispute turned into a postgame verbal altercation, both Saleh, now the coach of the Tennessee Titans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars' Coen revealed they've long since buried the hatchet.
"We're good," Saleh said during the AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL's Annual League Meeting on Tuesday in Phoenix, via ESPN. "I know the NFL probably wants more of a story, but there's no story. I have an appreciation for Liam. Like I said, I used the wrong word when I was trying to give him a compliment, but all that's under the bridge.
"We've talked and put it behind us."
Coen, the second-year Jaguars coach, got into a heated postgame argument with Saleh (who was serving as the 49ers defensive coordinator) early in the 2025 season after Coen's Jaguars defeated Saleh's 49ers, a win earned mere days after Saleh remarked about Coen legally sign stealing.
"Liam and his staff, a couple of guys coming from Minnesota, they've got legally, a really advanced signal-stealing type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation," Saleh said in the lead-up to their Week 4 meeting in Santa Clara, California.
Coen saved his retort for the postgame glow of victory, shouting in Saleh's direction while being held back by offensive lineman Robert Hainsey. Saleh fired back, causing quite a scene in the Bay Area and making headlines across the league.
Saleh quickly tried to diffuse the situation in the days after, admitting he regretted the phrasing he initially used to describe what he viewed as a compliment sent in Coen's direction.
"In my heart, genuinely, I was trying to give a compliment," Saleh said on Oct. 1. "I own the fact that I probably used the wrong choice of words."
Coen made light of the situation this week while in Phoenix, revealing the topic became a joke for a few of the coaches gathered in the desert.
"Sean [McVay] was killing Kyle [Shanahan] and Saleh about sign stealing, and they were killing me about keeping their name out of my mouth," Coen said, also via ESPN. "It was fun. I have a ton of respect for Kyle, for Robert, and those guys."
In the moment, the visual of Coen barking at Saleh was entertaining and drove conversations early in the season. Months later, both parties can laugh at it as a thing of the past.
"We're all finding those edges in those different ways of trying to motivate your team, motivate yourself, motivate your community," Coen said. "I mean, we're all doing that on a constant basis.
"And so when those things may happen, we joke on them after the fact and when we're here, but we can all appreciate because we all respect what we're doing and how we are all doing in different ways."
