There were simply no signs of progress for the Tennessee Titans since they hired Brian Callahan to be their head coach.
The Titans were bad in Callahan's first season, but he could blame the poor play of Will Levis at quarterback. Then things looked similarly sloppy with Cam Ward, the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. And it was clear that the coach might be the problem.
Callahan was fired by the Titans on Monday with the team sitting at 1-5. Callahan's last game was another dreadful performance in a 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The firing comes before the Titans host the New England Patriots. The Patriots are coached by Mike Vrabel, who the Titans surprisingly fired in a power struggle and now has the Patriots with a 4-2 record to start the season.
Mike McCoy is expected to be named interim head coach, per NFL Network. McCoy was head coach of the then-San Diego Chargers form 2013-16 and compiled a 27-37 overall record, with one playoff trip his first season during which the Chargers made the divisional round. He was most recently the Jacksonville Jaguars' quarterbacks coach from 2022-24 before joining the Titans as a senior offensive assistant.
Callahan went 3-14 in his first season, and the Titans gave him a second chance. The second season started with the same disjointed look and plenty of losses, and Tennessee decided it was time for a change.
That means a decent-sized portion of Ward's rookie season has been a waste, just like Caleb Williams with the 2024 Chicago Bears. To put Callahan's tenure in perspective, he had a .174 winning percentage (4-19 record). Among all coaches in NFL history with at least 50 games, the worst winning percentage ever is Bert Bell at .179.
Brian Callahan made egregious mistakes
In Williams' first season, the Bears retained Matt Eberflus as coach, and he and his staff were quickly shown to be overwhelmed and of little help to the rookie first overall pick.
There were plenty of those vibes with the 2025 Titans. It wasn't the worst decision for the Titans to give Callahan a second season and find out if the 2024 disaster was due to Levis' poor play. But even though Ward showed some individual promise, there wasn't much progress on the team level.
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In Week 1, Callahan didn't challenge a Titans catch. After the game, he stated the team didn't challenge because the receiver needed to get a foot down in bounds in addition to an elbow. That was an incorrect interpretation of the rule and not a good look for an NFL coach. In Week 3, there was an inexcusable managerial error. The Titans trailed the Indianapolis Colts 17-6 late in the first half, and they lined up for a 57-yard field goal. Indecision led to a delay-of-game penalty, which led to the Titans then missing a 62-yard attempt.
There were uncompetitive losses early in the season too, which didn't reflect well on Callahan. Neither did Ward's frustrated remarks after Tennessee lost 26-0 to the Houston Texans in Week 4. The Titans got an incredibly fortunate win at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, but they looked terrible again in Week 6, and the franchise decided it had seen enough.
Nothing about the Titans looked good enough, and the coaching errors didn't make anything better.
Cam Ward makes Titans job more enticing
The Titans' job will be inviting because of Ward. Despite being saddled with a head coach who wasn't up for the task, Ward showed why he was the first pick. He has a lot of talent and, like Williams and Chicago, plenty of head-coaching candidates will be eager for the chance to work with him.
The Titans still have a lot of holes to fill, but having a talented young quarterback is a good start. The franchise is also expected to move into a new stadium for the 2027 season, which brings another jolt of excitement. Tennessee hasn't made good management decisions in recent seasons, but the right hire to replace Callahan could lead to a quick turnaround.
It just became clear that Callahan wouldn't be the answer. The Titans will move on with a new coach and a new vision to get the most out of their young quarterback.