Tennessee Titans Coaching Staff Includes a 3-Man High School Reunion
NASHVILLE — De La Salle (Calif.) High School, the most storied prep football program in America, can boast of 16 graduates who have played in the NFL. And now three alumni who are coaches with the same team — the Tennessee Titans.
Head coach Brian Callahan and Nick Holz, introduced Wednesday as the Titans' new offensive coordinator, were backup quarterback and receiver as high schoolers in 2000 and 2001 when De La Salle was running off a 13-year run of 151 consecutive wins. Offensive assistant Kylan Butler was a running back, class of 2009.
After a combined 27 years as assistants with NFL teams, they are coaching together for the first time.
When Callahan and Holz were running the De La Salle scout team, they were asked Wednesday, could they have imagined this moment?
"No. Not even close," Holz said. "This is like — if you would have asked me two weeks ago — I wouldn't have imagined this. And I think the one thing, for us, we just kind of always kept working. And he was in Denver, and I was at the Raiders, so we didn't we talk a lot of football then. But it's been a lot of fun so far."
Their mentors in high school — De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur and Mark Panella to name two — played vital roles in the football educations of these men.
Would they be proud? Callahan was asked.
"I would imagine," Callahan said. "I haven't talked to Lad (Ladouceur). I've talked to some other people there. I'm looking forward to hopefully having him at a game here at some point.
"But there's three of us now — Callahan, Holz, and Butler — that were from our high school. ... We've just happened to find our way into the same building and it's something I'm proud of. I'm proud of what Nick's done, just as a friend. Professionally, he's up to the task. I can't wait to start working."
Panella, who spent 30 years with the De La Salle football program, was a voice in Callahan’s ear as quarterbacks coach. They have continued that conversation for the past 20 years and Panella now lives in Nashville.
“None of us who saw him coming up are shocked because we always knew he'd be a head coach one day,” Panella told AllTitans.com at the time of Callahan’s hiring. “It's amazing, but we aren't surprised because he always had a unique way of seeing the game."
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