When the Tennessee Titans hired Brian Callahan to replace Mike Vrabel earlier this offseason, I was immediately skeptical.
It's not that I think Callahan, who was previously the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator, is a bad coach. And it's not that I think he's a bad fit with the Titans. I'm just skeptical of every head coach hire that's made. You can only hear so many times that (insert NFL team name) hit a "home run" by hiring so-and-so before it becomes eye wash. No one really knows how a hire will work out. Every situation is unique. And there are so many factors -- sometimes things outside of a coach's control -- that determine whether or not a hire will work out.
When it comes to Callahan, there was a feeling that he was maybe coasting on the success of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow is the type of quarterback that makes coaches look good.
Buy after hearing some comments from Callahan this week during an interview with This is Football, I don't think the "Callahan is riding on Burrow's coattails" narrative is accurate at all.
Callahan has a wealth of experience from working with quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, and Burrow. And it's that mix of experience that has Callahan in a great position to bring a unique offensive system to the Titans that can help second-year quarterback Will Levis excel.
Tennessee's new head coach has no plans of just installing the system that worked in Cincinnati. There will be concepts and a general philosophy that translates, but ultimately, the system will be built around the strengths of Levis. And that's because Callahan has been on a journey where he's learned to not force anything on a quarterback just because it worked at his previous job.
"I have to be careful with it because he's (Burrow) so unique that I don't want to just say we can replicate this," said Callahan. "So that's been my challenge. Here's all the things that I love, but some of it's like, man, as we watch cut ups from the last couple years, trying to teach parts of the system that we have in Tennessee, it's like, God, Ja'Marr (Chase) is really good. And so is Joe burrow. It's hard to just say we're gonna do this. But I think there's a core concept family that Joe was really good at and I think it's kind of general passing game philosophy that I think is very applicable to a lot of quarterbacks.
"And we (Cincinnati) probably dropped back more than a lot of teams did, partly because of Joe and our strength was our receivers, but a lot of our drop back game is quick, it's timing based. It's got the ability to protect the quarterback in that regard. And obviously, we played with some offensive lines that weren't top tier talent. So we had to find ways around that, too. So that part of it was really a good learning experience. For me, it was learning how to manage the defenses we had to play against when we had less talent up front than the defensive fronts we were playing. So how do we scheme around that? That's probably been the most important thing I've learned is how to manage that part of the offense."
Callahan's journey across the league, which has included stops with a Hall of Famer (Peyton), a perennial Pro-Bowler (Stafford), a fringe Pro-Bowler (Derek Carr), and a rookie (Burrow), has prepared him for nearly every quarterback situation that an NFL coach can run into when it comes to quarterbacks.
"Where I really learned that lesson was when I went from Denver with Peyton to Detroit with Matthew," explained Callahan. "Both incredible quarterbacks, both very different. And that process of having that experience with Peyton, thinking this is the way to do it. Like this is it. You have Demaryius Thomas and Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders, like this is how you format an offense. And we get to Detroit and we didn't have those guys. You have Matthew, who is a Hall of Fame quarterback in his own right, but different mentality, different demeanor. And I learned real quick that you can't take whatever you did and just make it [work] in the next place. And I think that's an important lesson. Because I think as a coach, if you think you can just replicate whatever you had, the players are different, the environments are different, the mentalities are different, so at no point would I ever walk into the building and be like we're gonna do this. And it's gonna look just like this. Because it's not. We have different styles of players."
There's a lot there that should excite Titans fans. First off, Callahan has learned how to scheme around an offensive line that doesn't have elite talent. That's been an issue in Nashville the last couple of years. And while the roster will be improved in 2024, it's still important that Callahan can scheme around lackluster offensive line play.
Secondly, the fact that Callahan has been around so many successful quarterbacks and experienced first-hand how different concepts work for different players and personalities is a tool that's going to serve him well as he molds the Titans' offensive system to the strength's of Levis.
(Callahan's experience with veterans and rookies will also help in this regard.)
A lot still has to go right for Callahan to get the Titans back in the "contender" conversation. But as far as his philosophy and approach goes, I think it's obvious that he has the capability of leading a franchise to the Super Bowl if he has the right roster.
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