Titans fire Brian Callahan: First NFL coach to be let go in 2025 season started Year 2 with abysmal 1-5 record
Brian Callahan | Via CBS News
The Brian Callahan era in Nashville is over. The Tennessee Titans have fired their coach following a 1-5 start, the team announced on Monday. This decision comes following a 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
“These decisions are never easy, and they become more difficult when they involve people of great character,” said Chad Brinker, the team’s president of football operations, in a statement. “We are grateful for Brian’s investment in the Titans and Tennessee community during his tenure as head coach. We thank him and his family for being exemplary ambassadors of the Tennessee Titans.
“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth. 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.”
Callahan, who was hired in January 2024 away from the Cincinnati Bengals after five seasons served as their offensive coordinator, went 4-19 with Tennessee. The offensive mind was brought in to replace Mike Vrabel and develop Tennessee’s young quarterback, Will Levis. Instead, Levis took a step backwards behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, and the Titans finished the 2024 season with a 3-14 record — which earned them the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
There was again optimism entering this season with a new quarterback in Cameron Ward, but the Titans did not show progress. Through six weeks, Tennessee’s offense ranks dead last in yards per game (232.3) and second-worst in points per game (13.8).
Tennessee blew early leads to the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams in Weeks 1-2, and then were blown out by Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3. Following this Week 3 loss, Callahan gave up play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree. The swap did not spark the Titans offense, as Tennessee scored zero points vs. the Houston Texans in Week 4 while picking up just 175 yards of total offense.
The Titans did earn their first win of the season in Week 5 thanks to a dramatic collapse by the Arizona Cardinals, who allowed 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. However, the Titans were unable to build on this newfound momentum against the Raiders on Sunday, as the offense went back to looking disjointed. Tennessee is the only NFL team to not have held a fourth quarter lead this season, and the 83 total points scored are the Titans’ fewest through six games since 1985.
Coincidentally, the Titans will host Vrabel and his New England Patriots this week at Nissan Stadium. Not long ago, the Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC and beating Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in back-to-back weeks. Since that 2021 season, the Titans are 17-40, and have fired two coaches and two general managers. It truly has been a titanic collapse.
