Ranking all of Brian Callahan’s new hires for complete Tennessee Titans coaching staff

But all of these coaching additions are not equal. Here are my rankings of Brian Callahan’s first coaching hires for his Tennessee Titans 2024 coaching staff.

1. Bill Callahan - Offensive Line

The best coaching hire Brian Callahan and the Titans have made this offseason is the one everyone wanted but always seemed unlikely.

In order to bring in offensive line coach Bill Callahan from the Cleveland Browns, the Browns had to let the 67-year-old former NFL head coach walk. Not something that was guaranteed seeing as the senior Callahan has consistently led one of the most productive offensive lines in the league.

The Browns offensive line is frequently ranked in the Top 10 across the league by PFF and the unit has been an essential part of the Cleveland Browns returning to NFL relevancy over the last few seasons.

But with this being such a unique circumstance and opportunity for the Callahan’s, the Browns are letting him pursue it. Brian Callahan is now becoming the first ever NFL head coach to hire his father to his coaching staff. A huge win for the Titans, who need to fix their offensive line and protect Will Levis better in 2024.

2. Dennard Wilson - Defensive coordinator

While I have some concerns about Brian Callahan being a first time head coach and first time play caller that is now joined by a first time defensive coordinator, it’s hard to not be excited about what Dennard Wilson brings to the table.

Callahan said he’d be looking to hire a defensive coordinator that gave him problems as offensive head coach, and Wilson fits that description. Callahan’s Bengals averaged just 176 passing yards in two games (both losses) vs. Wilson's Ravens secondary in 2023.

The Ravens had the 26th ranked passing defense in the NFL in 2022 before Wilson going the job as the defensive backs coach. In 2023, they jumped all the way to the league’s 6th best while leading the way in takeaways.

Wilson coached safety Geno Stone this last season, who led the AFC with seven interceptions. Kyle Hamilton was also named a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro in his second NFL season.

Back when Wilson was with the all Los Angeles Rams, he worked with Ran Carthon for five seasons while Carthon was the Director of Player Personnel.

3. Tracy Rocker - Defensive line

This is Tracy Rocker’s second stint as defensive line coach with the Tennessee Titans. He previously held the same role from 2011-2013 under Mike Munchak. Most recently, he was the defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2021-2023.

In 2022, the Eagles defense was led by a dominant defensive line. Philadelphia was tied for the third-most sacks (70) in NFL history and became the first team to have four different players with double-digit sacks in the same season. Haason Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham combined for 49 sacks.

Rocker is an experience coach at both the NFL and collegiate level. In 24 seasons in college football, Rockers has worked with numerous NFL Draft picks, six All-Americans, and two national award winners.

He himself was a two-time All-American defensive tackle at Auburn that won the Lombardi Trophy and Outland Trophy. There’s a reason he is in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Rocker is without question my favorite assistant outside of Bill Callahan that has been named to this staff. He’s been succesful just about everywhere he has coached. His tie to this coaching staff comes with defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, who he worked with in Philadelphia.

4. Bo Hardegree - Quarterbacks

Bo Hardegree is a name that football fans in Tennessee may remember for his college career with the Tennessee volunteers. Hardegree finished his playing career with the Vols and immediately got into the coaching world. He has since held positions on aNFL staffs with the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Las Vegas Raiders.

Back in 2014, Hardegree worked on the same Denver Broncos coaching staff as Brian Callahan. Callahan was the an offensive assistant under head coach John Fox while Hardegree was an offensive quality control coach.

The role of QB coach will not be new to Hardegree. He was the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2016-2018 working most notably with Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler. In 2022 , Hardegree was the quarterbacks coach for the Las Vegas Raiders working with Derek Carr,.

In 2023, Hardegree really showed what he was made of. In the first half of the Raiders' season, Hardegree was the quarterbacks coach for Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, and Aidan O'Connell in the Josh McDaniels offense. But after eight games of failure, McDaniels was fired by the Raiders and Hardegree was promoted to interim offensive coordinator where he would get his first shot at calling plays.

After the promotion on October 31st, the Raiders went 5-4 with O'Connell starting at quarterback. The team's offensive output improved by over seven additional points per game. The Raiders did not commit a turnover in six of their nine games with Hardegree as their OC after turning the ball over in all eight games with McDaniels calling plays. Oh...and they hung 63 on the Chargers.

I’m satisfied by this hire for the Titans. Hardegree has worked with big arm quarterbacks in the past and is more than qualified to help Will Levis maximize his talent. The connection to Brian Callahan is a theme with coaches on this staff, but I think that's a good thing here.

5. Ben Bloom - Outside linebackers

Ben Bloom is a longtime Dallas Cowboys assistant that has worn many hats in his coaching career. Bloom did everything from defensive ends coach and linebackers coach to “assistant coach & special projects” with the Cowboys from 2011-2019.

Over the last four seasons, his roles have continued evolving with the Cleveland Browns. In 2023, Bloom was the defensive line coach for the Browns while Myles Garrett was named the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the Pro Bowl and Associated Press All-Pro team.

Bloom has been praised both in Dallas and Cleveland. Bill Callahan had also been with the Browns since 2020, and I’d imagine an endorsement from the senior Callahan carried some weight as the Titans filled out the rest of this coaching staff. 

6. Steven Jackson - Defensive backs

Steven Jackson is a former Oilers and Titans defensive back that is returning to the organization in 2024 as the defensive backs coach.

Jackson has a ton of experience, has been coaching in the NFL since 2001, and most recently worked as the secondary coach for the Atlanta Falcons.

Before landing in Atlanta, Jackson was the secondary/cornerbacks coach for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2020-21.

While Jackson was in Cincinnati, the 2020 Bengals' defensive backs limited opposing quarterbacks to a 62.8 completion percentage – the sixth-lowest in the NFL that season. Then in 2021, it was a strong three-game run from the secondary in the postseason that propelled the Bengals to an appearance in Super Bowl LVI.

After taking over as the secondary coach for the Falcons in 2023, Atlanta allowed the 7th fewest passing yards in the league. With Callahan and Dennard Wilson both lacking experience as play callers, I love the experience of someone like Jackson joining this staff.

7. Randy Jordan - Running backs

Randy Jordan is a former NFL running back that played in 122 career games for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders over nine seasons. From 2014-2023, Jordan was the running backs coach for the Washington Commanders and just last season added “senior offensive assistant” to his title.

Alfred Morris, Adrian Peterson, and Antonio Gibson all had seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards in Washington with Jordan as the RBs coach. But now he is leaving Washington D.C. for a job with Tennessee that will reunite him with Bill Callahan.

In eight of his 10 seasons with the organization, Washington was in the bottom half of the NFL in rushing yards per game. But perhaps that has more to do with the lack of talent in the backfield and scheme than it does the running backs coach. This past season, for example. The Commanders were 27th in rushing yards per game, but they were 7th in rushing yards per attempt.

Jordan was retained in Washington after Jay Gruden was fried and Ron Rivera was hired. That’s usually a sign that you’re doing something right. I also find the aforementioned relationship with Bill Callahan interesting. Jordan played under Callahan when he was with the Raiders. He was also the running backs coach at Nebraska while Callahan was the head coach there and has followed him to various other stops.

A running backs coach that has chemistry with the offensive line coach could be a good recipe. We’ll see how this one works out. 

8. Frank Bush - Linebackers

Frank Bush is another coach that will bring a ton of valuable experience to the Titans’ coaching staff as the linebackers coach.

Like Jackson, Bush also played for the organization with the 1985-1986 Houston Oilers. He later returned as the linebackers coach for the Titans under Mike Munchak and over a decade later, will take the same job with the same team under Brian Callahan.

Bush has been coaching in the NFL since 1993 and has won two Super Bowl titles as a coach.

Most recently, Bush was the linebackers coach for the Atlanta Falcons and helped Rashaan Evans (159) and Mykal Walker (107) both set single-season career highs for total tackles.

Bush has been a defensive coordinator at two different times during his coaching career. Once with the Houston Texans from 2009-2010, and once as the interim DC for the New York Jets in 2020.

9. Tyke Tolbert - Wide receivers

While Tyke Tolbert was recently fired as the wide receivers coach of the Chicago Bears, the way things ended in Chicago doesn’t tell the full story of who Tolbert is as a coach.

D.J. Moore had the best season of his career playing for Tolbert and the Bears in 2023. Moore recorded 96 catches, 1364 receiving yards, and 8 touchdowns.

According to the report from Ian Rapoport; Tolbert chose the Titans over two other suitors, which shows how he is viewed around the league. The only reason he was fired from Chicago was because of the full-on purge the Bears did to their offensive coaching staff.

Tolbert and Callahan have coached together previously with the Denver Broncos.

10. Tom Jones - Assistant to the Head Coach

Tom Jones has spent the last 25 years with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders in the front office. He was most recently the VP of Football Operations in Vegas as well as the Assistant to the Head Coach. Prior to that, he was Director of Team Operations.

This is yet another Bill Callahan connection that is carrying over to the Titans’ staff in 2024. He has worked with more than just Callahan, though. In his roles with the Raiders, Jones has worked with Titans’ OC Nick Holz, QB coach Bo Hardegree, and RBs coach Randy Jordan.

11. Payton McCollum - Assistant wide receivers 

Payton McCollum has experience on both side of the ball. Bouncing back and forth from college gigs to roles on NFL coaching staffs, McCollum’s background is primarily related to quarterbacks an d wide receivers, but in 2023 he was a defensive assistant fro the Indianapolis colts.

McCollum was the quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington for two seasons (2020-21). He was also the wide receivers coach for North Carolina Central University in 2019, but he has never been a position coach at the NFL level.

As an assistant wide receivers coach, I’m fairly neutral on this hire. It’s worth noting that McCollum was an offensive coaching assistant for the Detroit Lions from 2016-2017 while Brian Callahan was the QBs coach. 

12. Nick Holz - Offensive coordinator

It’s not that I’m necessarily against the hiring of Nick Holz as Titans offensive coordinator, but Holz is the only coach hired by Brian Callahan thus far that does not have something on his resume that excites me.

Holz was the passing game coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season in a year that Trevor Lawrence and the Jags offense took a step backwards. Lawrence had less passing yards, less passing touchdowns, and more interceptions thrown in 2023 than he did the year prior.

Before that, Holz was the offensive coordinator at UNLV. In his one year with the Rebels, the offense was below average (76th of 131) and took a huge step forward after he left in 2023.

Holz’ other NFL experience comes from 10 seasons with the Raiders. He was in a variety of roles as an offensive assistant, but never became so much as a position coach with the organization.

That’s a really underwhelming résumé for a recently hired offensive coordinator. But before Titans fans get too discouraged, remember that Brian Callahan is Tennessee’s offensive play caller and the one calling the shots. The Titans don't need Holz to be some schematic genius for this to be a succesful partnership. Having an offensive coordinator that Callahan trusts and has a close relationship with him is important to him. Callahan and Zac Taylor were tight and he wants to bring some of that culture to Nashville. Holz and Callahan go way back to high school, where they were teammates at De La Salle High school.