SAN FRANCISCO – Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon gave Cam Ward the green light to wear No.1.
After Ward's first NFL season, Moon said the Titans quarterback gave him reasons to believe he could have a bright future in the NFL, and he thinks he'll benefit greatly from recent hires made by the Titans.
"I thought he really came along as the season went along, and I know he learned a lot," Moon said of Ward. "He just needs some more weapons, and as they get more people around him, I think he'll be just fine. He's a very confident young man, and I also think he got an eye-opener about what the NFL is all about. I think the league probably humbled him a little bit, to be honest, and now that he's played an entire season, he has figured out what he has to do to be successful, and I think he'll do that.
"I think Cam has a really bright future, and I think he's going to benefit from the changes they made there."
Leading up to Super Bowl LX, Moon discussed the current state of the Titans, from his thoughts on new head coach Robert Saleh to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to Ward, who threw for 3,169 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions, with a passer rating of 80.3, in his rookie year.
Moon said he texted with Ward a little bit throughout the season, but said for the most part he left him alone and let him know he'd be available any way Ward might need it. Moon watched Ward, and he chimed in at certain points.
"I observed Cam from a distance, and I like a lot of things that he did throughout the year," said Moon, who threw for 49,325 yards in 17 NFL seasons (1984-2000) with the Oilers, Vikings, Seahawks and Chiefs after first playing for the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL. "What I liked was seeing how he got better as the year went on, as he started to figure more things out. You could see it with how he played, he looked more comfortable. I think he was a little frustrated early in the season, and probably said some things publicly that he probably shouldn't have, and I commented to him on that. But what's important is he learned, and he got better.
"No question he's going to do (the No.1) proud, as they build around him. He has a solid coach in place, a really good offensive coordinator, and I know the organization is behind him. It doesn't happen quickly for all the early draft picks, whether it's Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, I can go on and on. It sometimes takes a while – look at Trevor Lawrence, he is just starting to turn the corner now. So, it's a process, especially when you are drafted that high – it means you go to a bad team, and that bad team has to build. But Cam is going to be just fine."
Moon, in town representing NFL Alumni and promoting screening for cancer awareness, said he likes Saleh, who was introduced as the 22nd coach in Oilers/Titans history, and the eighth since the team moved to Tennessee, last week.
Saleh just wrapped up his 21st NFL season, and in his second stint as defensive coordinator with the 49ers.
Before returning to the 49ers, Saleh spent three-plus seasons (2021-24) as head coach of the Jets, where his teams went a combined 20-36.
"I think it's a solid hire, a really good hire, as far as the guys who were available and on the market," Moon said of Saleh. "I thought he did a really good job in New York under the circumstances. He just didn't have a really good quarterback, and he had to deal with that whole Jets disfunction. It's been that way for about four years. It would have been hard for him to succeed there; it would be hard for anybody to succeed there. But I think he's a solid coach and he has shown that with his two appearances with the 49ers. He did a great job this year keeping that team together on the defensive side of the ball, and he is known as a great leader and can rally guys. I think he'll do a great job with the Titans."
Moon said Saleh's hire of Daboll was big.
Daboll will be entering his 30th year in coaching, and his 26th year in the NFL, in Tennessee.
Previously, Daboll has served eight total seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns (2009-10), Miami Dolphins (2011), Kansas City Chiefs (2012) and Buffalo Bills (2018-21).
Daboll served as head coach of the New York Giants from 2022-25.
"I think the key for Coach Saleh was getting Daboll as his offensive coordinator, because you always wonder with a defensive-minded coach: What's his OC going to be like?," Moon said. "I like Daboll because he is very aggressive, and he knows how to work with athletic quarterbacks. He did a great job with Josh Allen in Buffalo. And I think he'll do a really good job with Cam, too. I thought it was a great hire for his offensive coordinator."
Moon said he's pulling for the Titans from afar, and believes better days are ahead.
Moon said he supports controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk, and believes she's proven she wants to win.
Now, the folks she hired need to provide success, he said.
"I think it starts with the GM, and the Titans have a really good one in Mike Borgonzi," Moon said. "So, now they have their head coach, their quarterback, and you have to be willing to stick with those people and go through the highs and lows of what a rebuilding process is, and I think she's in a position to do that now.
"I think the Titans are headed in the right direction. They have a good GM, and now a head coach they should feel good about. I wasn't as confident about Brian Callahan as much as they probably were when they first hired him. I like the fact Robert Saleh has been a head coach, I like the fact that he is coming from an organization in San Francisco that has been one of the most successful franchises in the National Football League, so I am sure he's learned a lot from that. And, he's also seen how it shouldn't be done by being a head coach for the New York Jets. So that's where it starts, and now they have to fill in the pieces around Cam as they build this team back up."
