Details emerge on firing of Brian Callahan

President of football operations Chad Brinker said (via Main Street Media’s Terry McCormick) the team wanted to give the first-time head coach some time to grow into his role, but the current power structure did not see enough progress with only four wins in his first 23 games.

In fact, the Titans appeared to be regressing in Callahan’s second season in charge. They went 3-14 in 2024 with Will Levis under center, and despite adding No. 1 pick Cam Ward this offseason, they were 1-5 to start this year. That one win was the result of multiple late fumbles by the Cardinals, too.

Desperate to turn things around, Callahan surrendered play-calling duties ahead of Week 4 and gave them to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree. In doing so, Callahan passed over offensive coordinator Nick Holz, a longtime friend dating back to their high school playing days, believing he was not ready, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Hardegree will retain play-calling duties under interim HC Mike McCoy.

At that point, the “writing was on the wall” in Tennessee, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, with other coaches preparing for what seemed to be an inevitable firing. In fact, Callahan seemed to be on the hot seat when the Titans fired general manager Ron Carthon during the offseason. Callahan himself “never felt like he was on solid footing after that,” per Jones.

The rapid removal of Callahan less than two years into his tenure begs the question: why did the Titans hire him in the first place? He began his NFL coaching career in 2010 for the Broncos, and after stints in Detroit and Oakland coaching quarterbacks, he was hired to be Zac Taylor‘s first offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.

The Bengals emerged as one of the league’s top passing offenses after adding Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins in 2020 and 2021 with a Super Bowl appearance in the latter year. The unit continued to produce in 2022 before stalling in 2023, largely due to Burrow’s injury.

The Titans, meanwhile, appeared to be searching for an offensive coach after parting ways with the defensive-minded Mike Vrabel. Then-Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald offered a strong interview, but the Titans wanted to move in another direction.

Former Falcons head coach and then-Cowboys DC Dan Quinn also interviewed, but owner Amy Adams Strunk was put off by past defensive collapses in the playoffs, including the 28-3 Super Bowl loss to the Patriots and, more recently, a 48-point performance by the Packers offense in Dallas, Jones adds. Quinn’s lack of a vision for his offensive coaching staff – which, at the time, did not include Kliff Kingsbury – further pushed him out of consideration.

So, largely due to the Bengals’ success on offense, the Titans added Callahan to their shortlist, and his resume and experience impressed the team’s decision-makers enough for him to win the job. It is not hard to imagine Tennessee looking for a young, offensive-minded disciple of a successful head coach to help find the long-term quarterback stability that eluded the club for the last decade.

It is worth noting, however, that Taylor called the offensive plays throughout Callahan’s Cincinnati tenure, an early sign the five-year OC may not have been ready for the big job. In Tennessee, he was learning to call plays as he took on the complex, all-encompassing duties of a head coach, and it showed.

Adams Strunk’s influence cannot be understated, either. She has not been in the team’s facility this week and rarely presents herself as the face of the franchise, per Jones, but her fingerprints are over their recent decisions. Adams Strunk restructured the front office last year, moving Brinker from assistant GM under Carthon to his current role over him. Hired by Carthon in 2023, Brinker now controls the Titans’ 53-man roster.

This offseason, Adams Strunk fired Carthon and replaced him with Mike Borgonzi, who brought in his own personnel team. Brinker and Borgonzi said they would lead the search for the next head coach, with Callahan’s firing described as the “last cleanup” before the duo can establish their own era of Titans football, per Fowler.

However, Adams Strunk and her desire to avoid negative media coverage will still play a role. The Titans just drafted a new franchise quarterback with the No. 1 pick and are opening up a new stadium in 2027, but their on-field woes have drained the excitement out of Nashville, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Their new coach will be expected to get the best out of Ward and start winning games quickly, but would-be hires may not want to operate under such expectations, especially given the Titans’ short leash for their leadership. Furthermore, McCoy does not seem the kind of high-profile, energizing hire that Tennessee is looking for, but the franchise’s last three interims (Mike Mularkey, Jeff Fisher, Jerry Glanville) have taken over the full-time gig, per veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky.

The Titans have months to organize and conduct their head coaching search, likely with the intention for a more thorough process than last time and potentially with the desire for more experience and stability in the top job.