One of the Titans' biggest coaching hires almost didn't happen, according to Brian Callahan

Brian Callahan is guiding the Tennessee Titans through one of the most exciting off-seasons in franchise history in his first season on the job. 

The Titans have made plenty of exciting offseason additions, but perhaps the most important move thus far is the hire of Callahan's father and highly regarded offensive line coach, Bill Callahan.

Bill was previously employed by the Cleveland Browns as a well-respected offensive line coach when his son was hired to be the Titans' next head coach. But at the time of his hire, it was far from a done deal that Callahan's father would be a part of his son's first coaching staff.

In fact, when Callahan was interviewing for head coaching jobs in 2023 he had a conversation with Bill about potentially joining forces if he were able to land a gig.

"My dad was like, 'I'm not for everybody. What if you don't like the way I coach?' You have to have those conversations and so we did," Callahan told Taylor Lewan and Will Compton on Bussin' With The Boys. "Ultimately he was like, "I really like Cleveland, I really like (Browns head coach) Kevin Stefanski. I'm happy here, I like the guys in the room, I don't really want to leave.'"

There was a mutual understanding that the father-son duo would likely stay on separate career paths as they had done throughout the entirety of their coaching careers.

"So I just kind of assumed that would be the case as this process went along, so as I interviewed everybody asked 'Is your dad coming with you?' I'm like, 'No, he's not. We had the conversation it's probably not gonna happen,'" Callahan explained.

Fast forward to January 24 when the Titans make things official announcing an agreement with Brian Callahan. The situation had quickly turned from a hypothetical discussion to an initensely real possibility.

"Had it been the year prior I think the answer still would've been no, but having it happen in real time and him going, 'Man, what a unique opportunity to go try to help my son succeed, and I think I want to be a part of that,'" Callahan recalls from their conversation.