The Las Vegas Raiders have been the kiss of death for a couple of head coaches over the last few seasons. In 2023, the Los Angeles Chargers fired Brandon Staley after getting blown out by the Raiders.
The Tennessee Titans lost 20-10 to Las Vegas in Week 6, and while it wasn’t a blowout, the team decided they needed to make a change. The Titans announced on Monday that they’ve fired head coach Brian Callahan.
It’s not too big a surprise that Callahan was let go. The Titans were the worst team in the NFL last season and decided to rebuild their front office. New general manager Mike Borgonzi didn’t get the chance to pick his head coach, so Callahan’s leash was always going to be short.
At 1-5, the Titans continued to be one of the worst teams in the league under the coach. A loss against a struggling Raiders team seemed to seal his fate.
Notably, Callahan is the son of former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan and was the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2018. It can’t feel great that his former team is the one that ultimately got him fired. That said, this move was likely inevitable no matter what happened with the Raiders game.
Callahan Was Clearly Losing Team
Callahan was a bit of a curious choice when the Titans hired him last year. He was the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offensive coordinator for several years, but he didn’t call plays. He likely should’ve had a chance to run an offense himself before he was hired as a head coach.
With the offense looking lifeless, the team needed to at least be organized for him to justify keeping his job. However, star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons made some comments after the loss to the Raiders, which couldn’t have helped Callahan’s job security.
“In this league, you have to learn how to stack wins,” Simmons said after the loss. “To be able to carry that momentum over — it started at practice. If I’m being honest, this was one of our worst weeks of practice. Came out flat Thursday and things like that — sometimes things carry over. In this league, you have to prove it every week and reprove it.”
Callahan can’t always control what happens in a game, but he can control what happens at practice. If Simmons truly didn’t believe the Titans were practicing well, that was a clear sign that Callahan was losing the team.
Who Could Replace Callahan?
The Titans will eventually name an interim coach to take over for Callahan, but the team has to start thinking about who the long-term head coach will be. It’s easy to see many pointing to Jon Gruden, who has spoken highly about rookie quarterback Cam Ward.
However, he comes with a certain amount of baggage. The Titans will likely want a young offensive guru to pair with Ward. Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard is a rising star and could be a hot head coaching candidate.
If Borgonzi wants someone more experienced, he knows Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy very well. He’d be an obvious choice for the team if they want to hire somebody who has been a head coach before.
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