It’s getting easier to see for the Tennessee Titans as head coach Brian Callahan suffered a new low. His job security seems tenuous, at best. And there’s zero reason for Callahan to spend another day as the Titans head coach.
Let’s start with this year. The Titans have taken the field four times, and they’ve been competitive once. They pushed the powerful Denver Broncos on the road in the season opener.
However, the wheels have come off. The Titans lost 33-19 to the Rams, 41-20 to the Colts, and — worst of all — 26-0 to the previously winless Texans. The time has come.
Titans Brian Callahan hasn’t cut it as head coach
His career record of 3-18 speaks for itself. It’s not Hue Jackson bad (he went 3-36-1 if you can believe that). Jackson is considered one of the worst hires in NFL history, according to CBS Sports.
“[Jackson] framed his loss-littered Cleveland stint like he was a good egg inside a rotten setup bent on tanking for longer-term building blocks, oblivious to higher-up efforts to ‘use' him for acquiring better draft capital,” Cody Benjamin wrote. “Still, it's hard to drop 36 of 40 games in the NFL. He also had a noted falling-out with Baker Mayfield, who's since proved to be a resilient starter after his own bumps.”
This is the direction Callahan is headed. The Titans don’t have a killer schedule coming up with the Cardinals, Raiders, and Patriots on the ledger. But that means it’s a good time to change captains, while some smoother seas might help the new regime get off to a good start.
The problem with QB Cam Ward
This may be the biggest reason to cut bait with Callahan. The Titans drafted Ward No. 1 overall earlier this year. The organization can’t afford to have Ward have a first season like Carolina’s Bryce Young. That 2-14 start by Young may have ruined him for the long haul.
And Ward is fast headed there. He has completed just 51% of his passes with 614 yards in four games. He has two touchdowns and two interceptions. That yardage total is awful, and it suggests one of two things. Either Ward isn’t ready, or Callahan is failing him.
If it’s the latter, the Titans need a change immediately. The Titans didn’t score a lot of points last year, ranking No. 27 at 18.3 points per game. This year, they’re dead last at 12.8 points a contest. Yes, it’s getting worse.
And Ward doesn’t seem happy with the direction, according to Fox News.
“If we’re keeping it a buck right now, we a–,” he said bluntly. “We’re 0-4. At this point, we got nothing to lose. We dropped a quarter of our f—ing games, and we’ve yet to do anything. We have to lock in, especially myself. From the offensive line to the defensive line to the special teams to all three phases, we have to play together.
“We have not played together this year yet, and that’s just something, you know, we want to preach about it, ‘Every day, every day we gotta do better,’ and we’re doing that. But it has to show up on Sundays. It hasn’t showed up yet, but it has to show up next week.”
Not good.
Brian Callahan doesn’t know all of the rules
OK, it’s not a fireable offense to be unaware of one or two things in the rulebook. But when said head coach is 3-18, it makes the gaffe look worse. And turning it into someone’s fault doesn’t help, according to Sports Illustrated.
“Callahan has already endured a high-profile instance in which he appeared unaware of a rule (then later in that same press conference deciding that he is very aware of the rule), turning the fiasco into a multiday story, even in one of the sleepier markets in the NFL,” Connor Orr wrote. “That, or he hired a game manager who was unaware of said rule. Check. Callahan passed off play-calling duties and didn’t have an offensive coordinator on staff deemed capable enough to take on the responsibility, which instead went to the quarterbacks coach. Check.”
Callahan could be gone sooner rather than later, according to NBC Sports.
“Regardless, it’s gone from bad to horrendous in Tennessee,” Mike Florio wrote. “The bye isn’t until Week 10. They have two more road games (at the Cardinals and the Raiders) before returning home for a visit from the Patriots and former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. At this point, it may be an upset if Callahan isn’t a former Titans head coach by that time, too.”
One good thing for a move now is that the Titans still could salvage the season if a new coach can make things work better for Ward. A few more losses and the Titans seemed destined to pick No. 1 again.
