The Titans have fired head coach Brian Callahan just six games into his second season. Callahan went 4-19 in his short stint in Tennessee, including a 1-5 start to this season with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, Cam Ward as the team’s starting quarterback.
How have the Titans played lately?
One week after posting a come-from-behind win over Arizona to snap a 10-game losing streak, the Titans fell flat against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, losing 20-10. Ward threw for 222 yards and one touchdown in the loss. It was the Titans’ fourth loss by at least 10 points this season, the most by any team. Callahan was asked whether he was more frustrated or angry at the outcome.
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“Certainly frustrated that we can’t find a way to make the plays more consistently to win a football game,” Callahan said. “That part is very frustrating, and I’m frustrated versus mad. I think I have moments of all of those things, but we should be mad. We should be frustrated because of where we’re at and the expectations. We’ve got to find a way to get better, and we were hoping to be better than we are so far through the first six games.”
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Brian Callahan was the sixth head coach for the Titans since the franchise moved to Tennessee in 1999. He won just 4 of 23 games in his tenure.
Callhan was hired in 2023 after a four-year stint as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator, where he had some of the best statistics in the league with Joe Burrow as his quarterback. The Titans’ offense, however, could not get on track. They have scored only 83 points through the first six games, the franchise’s fewest since 1985. Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker explained the move on Monday.
“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth,” Brinker said in a statement. “Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”
Who will take over head coaching duties now?
Senior offensive assistant Mike McCoy will take over as interim head coach. He was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 2013 to 2016.
Ward has thrown for just 1,101 yards in his rookie season, completing just 55% of his passes with just three touchdown passes and four interceptions. He took the blame for some of the struggles on Sunday.
“We have to try new things, and if we’re going to stay the course, we need to make the course work,” Ward said. “It’s really just both the players and coaching staff continuing to either call out a play and execute the play… At the end of the day, the coaches can only do so much. We as players have to do our jobs.”
The past four quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall and six of the past eight have had their head coaches fired during their rookie seasons, according to ESPN.
In a scheduling twist this Sunday, former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel and his 4-2 New England Patriots visit Nashville. Vrabel was fired after six seasons and two AFC South division titles to make way for Callahan.
