Brian Callahan's most important hire for his new Tennessee Titans staff is his father, Bill. The long-time coach was brought in from the Cleveland Browns to take over the reconstruction of one of the league's worst offensive line groups.
Tennessee's unit ranked collectively 32nd last season in Pro Football Focus' offensive line pass blocking efficiency rating (74.5), and averaged a run blocking grade of 59.4 between them.
"As far as experience goes, there's not really anybody that has more in all the different facets of an organization," Callahan said of his father, Bill. "He's been a head coach in college and the NFL. He's called plays in the NFL. He's been arguably, in my opinion, the best offensive line coach in football for a long time. His experience and his wealth of knowledge. He's probably forgotten more football than I know. And so, it's a huge asset to us to have him.
"And again, not just because that's my father, but because of his experience as a football coach. And again, there's not many better out there. (Offensive coordinator) Nick (Holz) worked for him a long time ago. I would argue that they're probably both very different people at this point. My dad in particular. But just the ability to have that knowledge, experience, wisdom, perspective, on all the things that go on from top-to-bottom in the football process, not just the coaching. And so, to have that available to us is huge, and trust me, he'll have quite a bit of input and ability to help us along the process."
The Callahans are a family of football lifers, and have surrounded themselves with likeminded individuals.
So, while it is Brian's first foray as both a primary play-caller and a head coach with the Titans, he has seem both jobs executed at every level first-hand. The supporting cast around him features Bill (25 years), wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert (21 years), running backs coach Randy Jordan (10 years) and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree (10 years) with a wealth of NFL experience to pull from. Filling out his Tennessee staff this way was of the highest priority in his first three weeks on the job.
Bill will still have his work cut out for him, however.
2023 first-round pick Peter Skoronski has promise, but looked very much the part of head-spinning rookie on a terrible offensive line. The rest of the group is an abject disaster in need of another top-to-bottom overhaul after running out five different starters at every position last season after thinking it could not get much worse that year than the line that finished dead last in pass blocking efficiency in 2022 (81.3).
It did, in fact, get worse.
How much Bill Callahan deems salvageable on the Titans roster from players like 2021 second-round pick Dillon Radunz or 2022 third-round tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere remains to be seen. A new coaching staff might mean redemption opportunities across the roster, or it could mean a substantial offensive line cleanse.
With the seventh overall selection in this year's draft, Tennessee will have the opportunity to infuse the group with top-end talent right away.
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