The Brian Callahan era in Nashville is over. Tennessee Titans fired its coach after a 1-5 start, the team announced Monday. The decision came after the team lost 20-10. Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Mike McCoy, senior offensive assistant was appointed interim coachconfirms CBS Sports top NFL insider Jonathan Jones. McCoy was the coach Chargers from 2013-16
“These decisions are never easy, and they are made even more difficult when they involve people of outstanding character,” Chad Brinker, the team's president of football operations, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the contributions Brian made to the Titans and the Tennessee community during his tenure as head coach. We thank him and his family for being exemplary ambassadors for the Tennessee Titans.
“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth. Our players, fans and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard that we currently do not meet, and we are committed to making the difficult decisions necessary to achieve and maintain that standard.”
NFL Coach Rankings: With Brian Callahan gone, is this the end for Mike McDaniel and Aaron Glenn?
Jeff Kerr
Callahan, who was hired in January 2024 from Cincinnati Bengals after five seasons as offensive coordinator, he went 4–19 for Tennessee. The offensive lineman was brought in to replace Mike Vrabel and develop Tennessee's young quarterback. Will Lewis. Instead, Levis took a step back behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. NFLand the Titans finished the 2024 season with a 3-14 record, earning them the No. 1 overall ranking in the 2025 draft. NFL Draft.
There was renewed optimism this season with new quarterback Cameron Ward, but the Titans showed little progress. Through six weeks, Tennessee's offense ranks last in yards per game (232.3) and second in points per game (13.8).
Titans under Brian Callahan (since 2024)
|
VL |
4-19 |
T-worst |
|
Points per game |
17.1 |
T-30th |
|
Points difference per game |
-9.9 |
31st |
|
Turnovers per game |
1.9 |
Worst |
In addition to the incredible offense that was unwatchable, Callahan also made several situational football mistakes that drew the ire of fans.
Week 1: Losing the Halftime Lead
During the first week, the defeat from Denver BroncosCallahan gave up what would have been Tennessee's surprise 6-3 halftime lead by catching three straight passes inside his own 10-yard line with 47 seconds left in the second quarter. Up until this point, Callahan had called the game conservatively, so it was a very strange time to be aggressive. The first two pass attempts were incomplete, and Ward was sacked at his own 1-yard line on third down.
The Titans then punted the ball away from their goal line, giving Denver possession in coverage. This short field resulted in the first touchdown of the game. Courtland Sutton score just before half-time. Instead of leading at halftime, the Titans trailed.
Week 1: Ignorance of the rules (presumably)
In the same Week 1 matchup, Callahan failed to challenge a rookie field goal catch. Elik Ayomanor. On a play in the third quarter, the receiver fell on his elbow out of bounds while gaining possession of the ball, which constitutes a catch. At the postgame press conference, Callahan said Iyomanor needed to step in, too. This is incorrect because NFL The rule book (Section 1, Article 3) states that a forward pass is completed when the player (2.) “touches the ground on the playing field with both feet or any part of his body other than his hands.”
The next day, Callahan said he simply misspoke and knew about the rule.
“I misspoke,” Callahan said. via ESPN. “I know this rule well, I understand how it works, and the way I then formulated it was incorrect. And I understand the rules of this game pretty well.”
Week 3: K-Ball Fiasco
The Titans lost at home in Week 3 Daniel Jones And Indianapolis Colts41-20. Shortly before the break in this match there was a very awkward episode that upset everyone at the Nissan Stadium.
The Titans faced fourth-and-1 from the Colts' 39-yard line with 42 seconds left in the second quarter. The Colts then called timeout. Callahan wasn't sure if he was going to keep the offense on the field, so he ended up calling a timeout after the Colts' timeout. Tennessee sent a forward. Joey Sly attempt a 57-yard field goal, but the K-Ball was not replaced so Sly could kick. The Titans took a delay of game penalty, reducing the field goal attempt to 62 yards. Slye's kick was blocked and the Colts took over at the Titans' 48-yard line. Indy's offense quickly gained 30 yards in four plays and set up a 36-yard field goal. Instead of Tennessee heading into the locker room trailing 17-9, the Titans lost 20-6.
Week 4: New conversation partner
After the loss to the Colts, Callahan handed over the duties of quarterbacks coach to Bo Hargrade. The trade did not spark the Titans' offense, as Tennessee scored zero points with just 175 yards of total offense in a 26–0 loss to the Titans. Houston Texans. It was the Titans' first shutout since 2019 and their biggest since the infamous 59-0 loss to the Titans. New England Patriots in 2009. It marked the Titans' 10th straight loss, marking their longest losing streak since the team moved to Tennessee.
The Titans did get their first win of the season in Week 5 thanks to a dramatic team upset. Arizona Cardinalswho allowed 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. However, the Titans were unable to build on their newfound momentum against the Raiders on Sunday as the offense began to look disjointed again. Tennessee is the only one NFL team have not led in the fourth quarter this season, and the 83-point total is the Titans' fewest through six games since 1985.
Week 7: Titans fire Callahan during “Vrabel Week”
It's worth noting that the Titans fired Callahan six days before welcoming their former starter Vrabel back to Nashville, as the Titans will host the Patriots this Sunday. Tennessee did this so that he would never have a chance to meet the man who replaced him.
“Fine, I think it will be different, [but] It can't be any other way,” Vrabel said of the Titans' upcoming game Monday morning before the Callahan news broke. “It has to be the way we prepare, the way we try to make a game plan. But… we have to admit the obvious after spending time there. So [there's] there’s a lot of people on the other side that I know, that I’ve coached or worked with.”
It wasn't that long ago that the Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC and were beating Josh Allen And Patrick Mahomes for several weeks in a row. The Titans are 17-40 heading into the 2021 season and have fired two coaches and two general managers. This indeed it was a titanic collapse.
