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How Titans' Brian Callahan Converted Teaching Freshman Into Working with Peyton Manning

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In 2008, Brian Callahan was charged with teaching football plays to freshmen at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif.

The work was the most basic, fundamental teaching imaginable.

“The freshman process was hard because a lot of the kids hadn’t ever buckled a chin strap or put on cleats and didn’t even know how to be in a stance,” Callahan told us during an interview on Robby and Rexrode on 102.5 The Game. “So you really had to teach and instruct.

Brian Callahan
Brian Callahan coaching at Junipero Serra High School in 2009/ Courtesy Patrick Walsh

“I couldn’t say, ‘Hey run a slant route’ because the kid would look at me like, ‘I don’t even know what that means, like what is a slant route? How do I stand? What are my steps? What’s the angle to come out?’ So in the best way possible, you’re really trying to break down exactly what you expect from them in those moments. And it really helped me refine how I teach. You can’t assume they know anything and you have to teach all of it.”

That was 2008, when Callahan was the offensive coordinator of the freshman team, the only position his friend, the varsity head coach Patrick Walsh, had available.

Said Walsh of that story: “Zero embellishment. One hundred percent accurate.”

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PK TV: We Discussed What Titans Coach Brian Callahan Told Us

The Paul Kuharsky PodcastNASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coaches typically make a good first impression at introductory press conferences. (Adam Gase is a major exception to this.) Brian Callahan was great.

I think he showed a Mike Vrabel-type confidence but we know he's going to be more flexible and less of a my-way-or-the-highway type of coach.

You likely heard some of his press conference or saw some clips and I thought we'd get the gang together Thursday evening to discuss the things he said and what we thought of them.

The fan base is super excited and with good cause. An organizational reset like this and the dramatic change in persona that comes with it creates the kind of energy Callahan said he wants his players to feel when they arrive at work every day.

So please rewatch the conversation at the private Facebook page or below on YouTube. We went a full hour because it was so good.

If you'd like a text alert when chats like this will occur, there is also a sign-up below.

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Brian Callahan Scores at Titans' Introduction

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Brian Callahan worked with Zac Taylor from the start of his Bengals regime in 2019.

That first version of the team started 0-11 and finished 2-14. The following year with a rookie Joe Burrow was a still bad 4-11-1. The third year they went to the Super Bowl.

Brian Callahan speaks during a press conference after being hired as the Tennessee Titans new head coach at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024.
Brian Callahan/ © Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Titans certainly hope they bounce back from their roster issue more quickly than that, but Callahan said at his introductory press conference that he learned a great deal from enduring the down times.

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Brian Callahan Will Call Plays For Titans, As Expected

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans hired Brian Callahan in large part because he's worked with a "variety of dynamic offenses" and "has shown the flexibility and intelligence to make an impact," Amy Adams Strunk said in her Wednesday statement.

As expected, he will be showing off that experience as the team's offensive play-caller.

Brian Callahan

While the process of an offensive staff crafting a game plan and getting to game day will be very collaborative, it will be the new coach who will be talking to Will Levis during games.

His former boss, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, told me he expects Callahan to be excellent at calling plays.

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What – And Who – Brian Callahan May Bring To The Titans

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

The Titans quickly settled on Bengals' offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as their 20th head coach in franchise history after a search that lasted just 13 days but involved at least 10 potential candidates. It was clear from the outset that the 39-year-old coach was very high on Tennessee’s list.

Brian CallahanAfter all, Callahan was the first reported and scheduled virtual interview, he was the first reported in-person follow-up interview as well, and he was ultimately selected before he could get out of town following the second interview.

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Ran Carthon Now Has Total Football Power For The Titans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As the Titans finalized Brian Callahan's deal to be their head coach, they also finalized the structure of their football operation.

And it completely empowers Ran Carthon, who they announced is promoted to executive vice president on top of his general manager title. 

Ran Carthon
Ran Carthon/ Angie Flatt

That gives him power over all areas that impact the football team: roster control, team activities and personnel decisions including draft and free agency acquisitions, oversight of Callahan and his coaching staff, scouting, sports medicine, and player engagement. 

He's running the show.

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Brian Callahan Looks Like A Solid Choice For The Titans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans stopped Brian Callahan from moving on to examine opportunities in Carolina and Atlanta, and are working toward an agreement Monday night for him to become their next head coach, I’ve confirmed.

The Cincinnati offensive coordinator who’s worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow will come to Nashville expecting to shape Will Levis into a franchise quarterback and lift the Titans’ offense to new heights.

Aug 1, 2022; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, left, talks with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen (8), right, during Cincinnati Bengals training camp practice, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the practice fields next to Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Callahan with Joe Burrow/ © The Enquirer-USA TODAY Sports

His father, Bill, is a successful offensive line coach currently with the Browns who was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2002-03 and interim coach in Washington in 2019. But Cleveland would have to let the senior Callahan out of his contract to be part of his son's staff or the Titans would have to be lining him up with a promotion offensive coordinator to get permission to speak with him.

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