After a couple of poor seasons, the Tennessee Titans hired former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as their new head coach. Callahan will replace former head coach Mike Vrabel, who has been with the Titans since 2018. Vrabel’s six-year stint with the Titans culminated in multiple playoff appearances and an AFC Championship game. However, he has failed to obtain another playoff win since 2019 and completely missed the playoffs back-to-back seasons. The Titans chose to fire Vrabel due to the lack of recent success and have decided to go in a completely different direction. Whereas Vrabel is a more defensive-minded coach, the Titans hired Callahan to boost their offense’s production.
Callahan Can Develop Quarterbacks
The Titans offense has been horrible since 2022, so hiring a former offensive coordinator sounds like a great solution. Callahan was a quarterbacks coach for multiple teams before coaching with the Bengals. This prior experience helped him develop talented quarterback Joe Burrow after the Bengals drafted him in 2020. Burrow has found massive success at the NFL level, partially due to Callahan’s coaching. The Titans have two young quarterbacks that must improve to compete with the other teams in the AFC South. The other three teams in the division have quarterbacks who showed proficiency at the NFL level. While Titans quarterback Will Levis showed some highlights during his rookie season, there are still some questions about his play heading into 2024. The other young Titans quarterback is Malik Willis, who is unlikely to be the starting quarterback. Willis showed promise during his collegiate career, but his skill set has not yet translated to the next level. Although there is still time for Willis to showcase his abilities, the new coaching staff will assess whether he has improved enough from previous seasons.
Callahan’s Postseason Success
Similar to Vrabel, Callahan has enjoyed some playoff success. Ironically, Callahan helped the Bengals beat the Titans during the 2021-2022 postseason. The Bengals went on to the Super Bowl that same year and lost a close game to the Los Angeles Rams. The following year, the Bengals made it to the AFC Championship game but fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Therefore, Callahan has shown he can contribute to postseason success and lead the Titans to similar results. Overall, Callahan had a 5-2 record as the offensive coordinator for the Bengals in the postseason. It is important to note that this will be Callahan’s first head coaching job at any level. This coaching hire is dangerous for the Titans, but they have confidence from the success he experienced with the Bengals.
Expectations for Callahan in 2024
Since Callahan is coming from the Bengals, he has experienced coaching an offense with an atrocious offensive line. Callahan was able to lead that offensive line to the Super Bowl, but he had Burrow at the helm. Hopefully, Callahan can develop either Levis or Willis and help them become a decent NFL quarterback because the Titans have some talented skill-position players. Specifically, the Titans still have wide receiver De’Andre Hopkins to assist them in the passing game, and they could retain star running back Derrick Henry from free agency this offseason. The Titans roster has plenty of issues, but a few upgrades could help this team become more competitive in 2024. So, Callahan’s goal for the 2024 NFL season should be eight or nine wins. This record would be a couple of games better than the previous season and get the team back on track. Although, with some key pieces possibly moving elsewhere in free agency, Callahan’s first season might look rough.
Main Photo: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean-USA TODAY NETWORK
