Brian Callahan took over as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans just over 9 months ago. At the time of his hiring, it was easy to buy into the hype and get excited about an offensive-minded, young head coach.
With that being said, Callahan’s first nine months have gone as bad as humanly possible. Callahan’s tenure has begun so horribly that it’s already time to consider whether the team should cut bait after this season.
Callahan’s Titans are 1-6 heading into Week 9, and it’s hard to identify any positives. First-year HCs often struggle, but they typically show signs of improvement and growth as the year goes on.
In Callahan’s case, however, the team looks worse and worse with every passing week. The Titans are not just rebuilding; they are losing in embarrassing and ugly fashion each week. Every game this team plays looks like it’s the first time they’ve met each other.
Brian Callahan’s offense is worse than his predecessors
Before this season, Callahan was billed as an offensive guru. The coach was credited with helping the development of Joe Burrow and helping design a high-powered Bengals offense.
How has that translated to Tennessee? Well, the Titans are currently 28th in points per game, 31st in passing yards per game, and 30th in yards per game. Offensive guru? The “exotic smashmouth” offenses of Mike Mularkey were much more impressive than those of this unit, as were Mike Vrabel’s units.
Callahan also brought in his father, legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan. The elder Callahan is billed as one of the greatest OL coaches in the NFL. Surely, Bill has at least had success, right?
Nope. The Titans still have a revolving door at right tackle, and the team is 25th in the number of sacks allowed per game. Nicholas Petit-Frere and Jaelyn Duncan have been atrocious when asked to play, somehow even worse than last year. Leroy Watson IV was brought to Tennessee from Cleveland with the elder Callahan, and he’s also been horrendous.
Not one thing the Callahan regime has tried to do thus far has worked. And no, this can’t be blamed on a bad roster.
This is not JUST a roster problem
The Titans spent more money than any other team in free agency this offseason, so the “bad roster” excuse doesn’t fly either. Is this roster perfect? Absolutely not. However, it’s not bad enough to get blown out by 40 points. Callahan has shown an inability to manage games, hold players and coaches accountable, or prepare his team.
The Titans weren’t going to be a Super Bowl contender, no matter who the coach was in 2024. That doesn’t mean they had to be a cellar-dweller, though, but that’s where we are.
Continuity is meaningless if the wrong people are in place
Barring a miracle turnaround, the Titans need to cut bait. This front office already showed they don’t buy into the sunk-cost fallacy as they traded Hopkins away mere months after investing a boatload of money into this team.
That same mindset needs to be in place with Callahan. Continuity is no good if you have the wrong people in place. If Amy Adams Strunk wants Titans fans in seats when the new stadium opens, changes need to be made — and made fast.