Titans President Explains Controversial Brian Callahan Decision

The Tennessee Titans are turning a few heads after deciding to keep Brian Callahan as head coach for his second season on the job.

The first-year head coach struggled to win games in 2024, coming away victorious just three times during the season. While other first-year head coaches like Antonio Pierce and Jerod Mayo were fired despite winning more than Callahan, the Titans opted to keep him. Team president of football operations Chad Brinker explained the decision to retain its head coach despite his poor record.

"We wanted to give him that opportunity to grow as a head football coach," Brinker told ESPN insider Turron Davenport. "We felt like another year to grow into that and we're going to need to see that growth. We believe in Brian, and we think he's going to get there. So that's why he was retained."

The Titans' decision to keep Callahan is justified. It isn't a massive shock that Callahan is back for his second season, but the team is opting to go with a different approach compared to others.

The Titans want stability with the roster, which is important for their long-term vision as a franchise. On top of that, Callahan is a former quarterbacks coach, which should give the team a massive boost with Cam Ward coming in as the No. 1 overall pick.

The Titans are building around Ward, so it only makes sense to have a quarterback specialist as the head coach, especially if he was already in the position to begin with. The Titans hoped Callahan would have that effect on Will Levis, but things didn't work out. Luckily for the Titans, Ward is a sharper prospect than Levis.

Ward believes Callahan is the head coach that can help him succeed and having him around for a long time could help the No. 1 overall pick's growth in the NFL.

"You see it with the best quarterbacks out there -- Tom Brady, he had stability," Ward said via Davenport. "Lamar [Jackson], he had stability, Pat [Mahomes], he had stability. I think a lot of guys who have stability in the NFL can succeed long term."

Ward and the Titans have one final preseason game coming up against the Minnesota Vikings on Friday at 7 p.m. CT.

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