BREAKING: Brian Callahan GIVES UP Play Calling Duties, Bo Hardegree Takes Over & Cam Ward Worst Day

BREAKING: Brian Callahan GIVES UP Play Calling Duties, Bo Hardegree Takes Over & Cam Ward Worst Day

Brian Callahan gives up play calling duties to quarterback coach Bohard agree, but that’s not going to save his job. I’ll break down the big news on today’s edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome to an emergency edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Roland. Titans fans, today’s emergency edition is brought to you by Mazda. Like the Titans players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights from this week’s moving the game forward. Mazda move and be moved. It is an emergency edition. Brian Callahan has given up play calling duties. He is giving the play calling duties to quarterback coach Bo Hardigree. But again, I do not believe that this is going to save Brian Callahan’s job. And I think at the end of the day, this is not enough for the Titans to change the way they’re going. Before I dive into why I don’t think this is going to save Brian Callahan’s job, tell you more about Bo Hardigree, the new Titans offensive play caller, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It’s your team every day. Remember, I am your host, Tyler Roland. 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic. I’ve covered the team for USA Today Sports Illustrated and I’m a certified film junkie who has hosted the number one Tennessee Titans podcast for seven seasons. So we get the big time news from Brian Callahan. He goes out does an emergency press conference before Tuesday’s practice and says I am giving up play calling duties to Bo Hardigree the Tennessee Titans quarterback coach. And let me just break down my thoughts here. This is not what we were sold when Brian Callahan was hired as the head coach. When Brian Callahan was hired as the head coach, we were told that he was a quarterback whisperer, that he was an offensive guru, that he was a offense designer from the Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl team and he was a guy who was so good at adjusting the offense and figuring out what they needed to do going forward. That’s what we were sold when Brian Callahan was hired. Not that Brian Callahan was a CEO style head coach. Not that Brian Callahan was good at managing the defense and managing the special teams and making in-game decisions and situational football. That’s not what we were sold. So, I’m sorry, but I don’t think that Brian Callahan giving up play calling duties is all of a sudden gonna change his fate. This is step one of a two-step process that ends with Brian Callahan being fired. This is uh a couple making a joint Facebook profile. Okay, they’re still together, but it won’t be long. Y’all know what I’m talking about. All right, this is not going to save Brian Callahan’s job because at the end of the day, what you’re doing is you’re just letting Brian Callahan focus on the stuff that he sucks at. Brian Callahan is awful at in-game management. He’s awful at situational football decisions. He’s awful at managing the entire team. He’s awful at leading the players in the locker room. Those are the things he’s not good at. So, by letting him focus more on those things, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to be better at them. In theory, in theory, Brian Callahan will be better at those things if he has more time to focus on them. But if you’re already terrible at those things, focusing on them more isn’t going to make you good enough at those to make sense. If Brian Callahan is not calling plays, his value to this franchise plummets. I just said it when we were live on the Titans squad show with Julian Missone and with legend Brad Hopkins. I said, “Why would I keep someone in their position if they literally can’t do the thing that they were brought in to do?” If you’re fl if you’re at the burger station at a restaurant and your job is to make burgers and all you can do is put pickles on the sandwich, why would I have you at the burger station in the first place? I’m just going to fire you and bring in somebody who can handle the burger station and put pickles on the sandwich. At the end of the day, we were sold that Brian Callahan was an offensive wizard like a Shawn McVey, like a Matt Lafleur, like a uh Kevin O’Connell. And if he’s not that, then why would I want him to try to be Nick Serriani, Dan Campbell, Mike Vrabel? He is not that kind of coach. If the Tennessee Titans wanted a CEO type of head coach that doesn’t call plays on either of the sides of the ball and just manages the team, they would not have hired Brian Callahan. They would not have hired Brian Callahan. Period. If you are a shooting guard and you can’t shoot, then get off the floor. I’m not going to say, “Well, Brian Callahan has been struggling hitting the three. He’s going to focus more on defense. I’m sorry, but you’re not good at defense. Why would I ask Brian Callahan, who was hired to be a three-point shooter, to be a defender now? I’m a Lakers fan. I know all you guys get mad about that, but Austin Reeves is not a good defender. He’s a ball handler and a scorer. I’m not going to get the max potential out of a player like that if I’m taking the ball out of their hands and asking them to play point attack defense. Brian Callahan had to do this. Let’s just call it what it is. Brian Callahan was forced to do this because his in-game decisionmaking is so despicably bad that the organization had no choice. Either you’re fired right now, Brian, or you give up play calling duties so that you could focus all of your attention on making the right decisions in the game. But at the end of the day, you are hiring a guy to be an offensive play caller. And now that he can’t do it, his only things that he can do is do the stuff that he’s terrible at. Again, the Tennessee Titans would not have hired Brian Callahan if they would have known that he would not be the offensive play caller. There is just no point in having Brian Callahan on this staff if he’s not calling offensive plays. So, yes, he can focus on his deficiencies more by not having to worry about calling plays, but calling plays was the only thing that he was good at. calling plays and designing offense is the only thing that he was good at. And he wasn’t even that good at those. I’m not saying that he’s good at it. He was a terrible play caller. His offensive design is not good enough. But now you’re taking him away from the only thing that gave him value whatsoever. Again, if the Titans wanted a CEO style coach, Brian Callahan would never have been in the running. He has no qualifications. He has no pelts on the wall to be a CEO style coach. He’s going to go into the defensive meetings and tell Dennard Wilson what to do. He’s going to go into the special teams meetings and tell Bones Fossil what to do. No, he has no idea about any of that stuff. A CEO style head coach is good because they do understand all aspects of the football team. So Brian Callahan was a terrible fish that was a slow swimmer. But now you’re saying, “Brian, we’re not going to have you swim anymore. We’re going to take you out of the water and tell you to climb a tree.” Well, just because he can spend all his time focusing on climbing a tree doesn’t mean that a fish can climb the tree. It’s insane. Just fire him already. And here’s the reality. The Titans don’t want to fire him because it looks bad and it makes Amy look bad. That’s the only reason. The only reason that they didn’t fire Brian Callahan is because it would look bad for the organization and it would make the owner look bad. Like everybody says she’s temperamental. She has a quick trigger. She this, that, and the third. This is a PR move, but at the end of the day, this isn’t going to save the team. This isn’t going to change anything because Brian Callahan still is going to suck at in-game management. Brian Callahan is still not a good leader. Brian Callahan is still not going to be able to inspire the team. So just because he gets to focus more on the stuff he sucks at doesn’t mean that he’s going to get good at it. I can go to the driving range for two hours and hit driver. I’m still going to slice cuz I’m not good at it. So to me, this is a desperation move by the organization. This is a PR move by the organization when in reality Brian Callahan is not going to keep this job. And no matter how they shuffle the deck, that’s not going to change. But but I will say I think the offense has the potential to be better under Bo Hardigree because there’s some very very encouraging history for Bo Hardigree that we’re going to dive into. Now, before we do, do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda’s moving the game forward. All right, can’t wait to get into it. For those who believe it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, they move cultures, and they keep the game moving forward. This week’s moment that moved the game forward is Brian Callahan letting go of play calling duties because it’s the first step forward to Brian Callahan being fired and the Titans hiring a real NFL head coach. Look, he could give up play calling duties. Maybe that moves the offense forward as well. But at the end of the day, the Titans need a new head coach and this is a step in the right direction, even if it’s not the full move that we wanted to see. And look, when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there’s more to every Mazda vehicle. It’s Mazda move and be moved. Today’s episode is also brought to you by Game Time. The NFL season is back. And honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a hassle. Between cues, login screens, prices jumping at checkout, it’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives you the advantage. Game time is fast, it’s easy, and it’s backed by the Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So, the price that you pay or the price that you see is the price that you pay. I pulled up Game Time recently in just a couple of taps. I saw amazing deals. I’m talking about your favorite NFL teams games for as low as $100. I bought NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, uh, comedy, concert tickets, all on Game Time. Make sure that you download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code Loc for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. Titans fans, let’s continue today’s emergency edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about why Brian Callahan giving up play calling duties is a PR move and it ultimately won’t save his job because he wasn’t hired to be a CEO style head coach. He was hired to be an offensive wizard head coach. Think about the archetypes and the prototypes that you have for your coaches on like college football and on Madden and stuff like that. Well, I if I wanted the offensive wizard and the guy isn’t that, then I don’t need him. You know what I mean? Like you’re not a CEO style head coach. It’s not going to work. But let me say this. Although I don’t think that Brian Callahan is going to get any better at the things that he’s not good at right now, I do believe that the Titans offense has a chance to get better with Bo Hardigree calling the plays. So, going over it, Bo Hardigree is currently the Tennessee Titans quarterback coach. Now, he’s been in the NFL for quite some time now. Uh, he’s got a ton of experience. He started in the NFL in 2015. All right. He got hired by or 2014 he got hired by the Denver Broncos which is where he met Brian Callahan. He went to the Chicago Bears in 2015. Was a quarterback coach for the Dolphins in 2016. Um offensive assistant for the Jets. Went to the New England Patriots under Bell Bich in 2021. Then he went to the Raiders in 2022 where he was the quarterback coach under Josh McDaniels. but he was actually kept into 2023 when they fired Josh McDaniels on Halloween and made Antonio Pierce the interim head coach. In the meantime, they made Bo Hart agree the interim play caller in the interim offensive coordinator for the Raiders. And here’s how the Raiders offense did in the final nine games of 2023 for the Raiders offense. Bohard agrees team averaged 22.8 8 points per game. That included a 30point showing in the very first game for Bo Hardigree and a 63 point performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. So, I mean, that’s only nine games, but Bo Hardigree had more experience calling plays coming into this regime than Brian Callahan did. Brian Callahan had never called plays at the NFL level before he got hired to be the play caller and the head coach for the Tennessee Titans. Bo Hardigree at least does have nine games of play calling experience. Again, a 30point game and a 63 point bomb against the Los Angeles Chargers. 22.8 points per game in those nine games. Yeah, I see Joe saying Bo got Staley fired. Yes, correct. Bo Hardigree got Brennan Staley fired from the Los Angeles Chargers. And what a right move that was. Not only is it the points per game, but Bo Hardigeree’s offense in those nine games to finish 2023 for the Raiders averaged 38 yards per game. 308. It’s not that bad. The Raiders, not only that, the Raiders went five and four in those games. Bo Hardigree had a winning record as an offensive play caller. And here’s the real thing. I left it to the end because here, if you’re not impressed yet, if you don’t have hope yet, if you don’t have any faith at all left, how about this? He did it all with Aiden O’Connell as a rookie. What’s Aiden Oonnell doing right now? Not starting in the NFL, not a starting level player. So, you took Aiden Oonnell, a rookie head coach or a rookie quarterback who wasn’t even a first round talent. Aiden Oonnell got drafted in like the fourth round. You took a a mid round rookie quarterback and you led them to 23 points per game, 300 yards per game, and a five and four record. That’s pretty impressive. Now, there are bad games mixed in there as well. He had a a a stinker where they scored zero points. That happened, too. But again, I think that it’s very likely that Bo Hardree is a better play caller than Brian Callahan. I think it’s very likely that Bo Hardigree is a better offensive coordinator than Brian Callahan. So, that could be very helpful. And who has worked with Cam Ward the most out of any coach on the coaching staff? Who has had more communication with Cam Ward than any coach on the coaching staff? And Jay Nun says, “I’m glad they did something. Tyler was on pace to have a stroke by week six. Man, I’ll tell you, I will tell you absolutely that I mean these coaching decisions. But here’s the problem, Non, is I don’t think that Callahan is all of a sudden going to be better at in-game decisions. It’s not like because you don’t have to call plays that you’re all of a sudden going to make better fourth down decisions or all of a sudden you’re not going to get aggressive when you’re in the shadow of your own goalpost or you’re not going to run five straight run plays. He’s still the head coach and he’s still going to tell Bo Hardigree what he wants to do situationally. So I just don’t think that this makes Callahan any better at all. But I think Bo Hardigree could be better than Brian Callahan at the offensive coordinator job and at the play calling job, which could be better for Cam Ward, could be better for the offensive line, could be better for Calvin Ridley. I think that all makes a ton of sense. But again, Bohard’s only experience was with a much worse rookie quarterback than what he has in Cam Ward. He has the most cache and the most experience working with Cam Ward. Knows what Cam Ward likes the most. Knows what he does well, what he doesn’t do do well the most. He was the quarterback coach working with him dayto-day. Now, Brian Callahan says that this isn’t going to change anybody’s responsibilities. Bohard is still going to be the quarterback coach. He’s just going to call plays. Nick Holtz still going to be the offensive coordinator. Callahan’s still the head coach. Mike McCoy is still a senior offensive adviser. So in theory, maybe that’s good. But again, I think that Bo Hardigree could be a better play caller and better offensive coordinator. And it’s not going to solve the Tennessee Titans biggest issues because Brian Callahan, even if he’s not calling plays and focusing on everything else, is still not good at that. Again, you could tell a fish that they don’t have to worry about swimming and focus their whole day on climbing a tree and they’re not going to be good at climbing a tree cuz they’re a fish. So, you know, I just to me this is rearranging chairs on the Titanic. The ship is sinking. The Brian Callahan ship is sinking. And he can grab a bucket and throw water overboard all he wants. But it’s clear that the organization went to Callahan and said, “No, you’re so terrible at in-game decision-making that you cannot call plays anymore.” He was forced to do this. And if you’re forcing someone in your partnership to do something that you want them to do, if you’re a woman and you got to force your boyfriend to buy you flowers, it’s already over. It’s not going to mean anything. You know what I mean? Again, the Tennessee Titans and Brian Callahan just started a a joint Facebook profile. They may not be broken up yet, but we all know it’s coming soon. Now, with that in mind, I think a big part of this is what is best for Cam Ward. And the reality is Cam Ward just had his worst game of the three. And it may be perfect timing for the guy closest to Cam Ward to take over play calling duties. do want to let you guys know that today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure that you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Again, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel no matter what I’m doing, whether I’m hitting player props, money lines, spreads, overunders, or putting all that stuff together to build a same game parlay. Even if I miss kickoff, I can jump in with some live betting action as well. It makes every game more exciting, whether I’m watching the Titans or just keeping an eye on my fantasy lineup. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s the best way to add a little more energy to your Sunday. So, are you ready to play? Download the F FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. Once again, that’s fandal.com to place your first $5 bet. Titans fans, let’s cap off today’s edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. It’s an emergency edition after Brian Callahan lets go of play calling duties. The first step to him getting fired. Now, we talked about Bo Hardigree and why I think that Bo Hardigree will be a better play caller than Brian Callahan and why Bo Hardigree has a a great opportunity to make a connection with Cam Ward and the Titans need it because week three was Cam Ward’s worst game so far. But let me say this, it doesn’t mean that Cam Ward was bad. Okay, Cam Ward obviously made the terrible play to start with the pick six. Honestly, the throw before that to Calvin Ridley was really bad as well where he tried to hit Calvin Ridley on the on the out route and he just threw a terrible pass. All right, but also there are some other things that I thought were really bad from Cam Ward on a couple of the screen passes. the one that Tony Pard that he threw at his feet. He could have thrown that screen pass to Tony Pard. I don’t understand why he didn’t. Grover Stewart was not close enough to prevent him from getting the ball to Tony Pard and the screen was set up well. He just got cold feet and didn’t throw it. And then on the screen pass to Chim DK, Cam Ward tried to throw the football with his feet totally spread apart. Terrible form and it was just an awful inaccurate pass which we saw Cam Ward struggle with behind the line of scrimmage accuracy in college and in the preseason. Not only that, but if we’re honest, the final two sacks of the game were on Cam Ward. And the pick six, he missed Elio Manor wide open on the drag route underneath. He never even needed to throw that ball to Tony Per. So, there were multiple misses by Cam Ward that should have not turned into negative plays that did. There were multiple inaccuracies. He had Calvin Ridley wide open down the sideline on a deep route and overthrew him massively. But I also want to say this, getting the play calls in on time, calling the right plays for right situations, giving Cam Ward an opportunity to feel free and loose, none of that has happened with Brian Callahan. And that’s not on Cam Ward. Also, on the first two sacks of the game, no one’s open. There’s literally no one open on the first two sacks of the game. And Cam Ward is getting rushed immediately. Now, I got to say this. Although it was Cam Ward’s worst game of the year, he also had some great moments. the velocity that he threw with on the touchdown to Ellio Manor on the 27 yard completion to Calvin Ridley. Uh drilling the ball home on those play action plays where he’s got guys in his face. There was a a sidearm throw where literally Deorest Buckner is right in front of him barreling down on him and he throws it sidearm right around him and completes a pass and gets a first down. on the fourth down where they went for it. Nobody open. Immediate pressure by the offensive line. Cam Ward’s able to make a play with his legs, get out of the pocket, and pick up the first down. So, even when, again, it’s totally different to me, not to hate on Will Levvice, but Will Leves’s bad games last year were disasters. Cam Ward’s worst game so far wasn’t even that bad. The pick six was terrible, but after that, it wasn’t even that bad. So, again, to to bring this back to the news of the day, it may have been Cam Ward’s worst game, but a lot of the problems that are making Cam Ward look worse come from the inadequacies of Brian Callahan. So now maybe with Bo Hardigree calling plays, Cam Ward can look better. The offense can f function in a better way. But to cap this thing off, I know a lot of you guys are watching live. I know people are listening to this on the podcast audio version and you heard me say it at the beginning of the show, but I’m just going to hammer home the point one more time. Just because Brian Callahan gave up play calling duties does not mean that Brian Callahan is all of a sudden going to be a good coach at the things that he sucks at. If you wanted a CEO style head coach like Dan Campbell, like Nicki, like Mike Tomlin, like Mike Vrabel who’s a CEO style head coach. He’s not anywhere near as good as Dan. Dan Campbell was who you guys think Mike Vrabel is. Mike Vrabel ain’t that guy. He ain’t that. He ain’t Nick Serriani. He ain’t Mike Tomlin. He ain’t Dan Campbell. Mike Vrabel is the worst of those coaches as a CEO style head coach. But if you wanted a CEO style head coach, it ain’t Brian Callahan. You hired him to be an offensive wizard like Shawn McVey or Matt Laflur or Kevin O’Connell or Mike McDaniel or that’s what you hired him to be and he’s not that. So if you can’t do what you were hired for then why are you here? I still think Brian Callahan gets fired. He will not be the head coach of the team next year. And here’s the thing. If Bo Hardigree, if Bo Hardigree makes the offense look better, significantly better, then what does that tell you about Brian Callahan in the first place? Like, what are we doing? So to me, again, this is a desperation move, not only by Brian Callahan, but by the Tennessee Titans organization. I firmly believe that Brian Callahan was forced to do this by Chad Brinker and Mike Borghazi, and it’s step one of a two-step process that will eventually end with Brian Callahan being fired. 0% chance Brian Callahan is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2026. And this just doesn’t change anything. So, with that being said though, that is going to do it for this emergency edition of Locked on Titans. As always, I am your Well, let me say this. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Throw a Titan up down in the chat. I’m going to be putting out a Cam Ward film video on the Tic Tac Titans YouTube channel. Tomorrow is crossover Thursday with my guy John Hickman from Locked on Texans. Big game ahead. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. But again, as always, I am your host, Tyler Roland, and this was Locked on Titans. [Music]

BREAKING: Tennessee Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan has given up play calling duties to quarterback coach Bo Hardegree and while that may allow Callahan to focus more on in-game management, it severely undermines the entire reason Callahan was hired in the first place. It looks like step one of a two-step process that leads to him being fired eventually. Hardegree, on the other hand, has some great experience to draw from and has had some success in the past as a play caller for a rookie quarterback. Hopefully this helps Cam Ward. Especially, after Ward had his worst day as a pro in Week 3, but it doesn’t mean it was all bad either.

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