After watching Peter Schrager (whom I tend to like) take a position of defense for HC Brian Callahan where he implied the organization didn't exhibit enough paitence with their offensive minded head coach. And how this lack of patience, compounded with other recent organizational changes, makes the job (of an NFL head coach) for this team, unattractive. I decided to take the time and reflect on the four lone examples of success Cally achieved over his twenty three games at the helm.

Miami Dolphins 9-30-24 Final Score: 31-12 ('24 record of 8-9)

During week 2 of the '24 NFL season, the Miami Dolphins -and football fans everywhere- witnessed yet another gruesome Tua concussion. Make no mistake about it, this one made me sick to my stomach. After backup Skyler Thompson proved no dice the following week. Miami, who had signed Tyler Huntley off the Baltimore practice squad only 2 weeks prior to facing the Titans, gave him the start.

Huntley produced 96 yards passing and scored a higher passer rating than both Mason Rudolph and Will Levis (who annihilated his shoulder in the 1st quarter which is currently resulting in him sitting out the '25 season)

Rudolph's rhythm did prove to be effective enough to beat out Miami's stagnant offensive effort of 12 points (failed 2 point attempt) But the final score was padded by a really strange onside kick attempt, an ensuing freakout by the Titan's special teams coach and a questionable ball placement near the goal line resulting in a late and easy Titans touchdown. –This would prove to be the largest margin of victory during the Callahan era.

New England Patriots 11-3-24 Final Score: 20-17 (OT) ('24 record of 4-13)

With Will Levis still injured, Mason Rudolph led the Titans for the 3rd consecutive week as the they hosted the rookie QB-led Patriots in a close game that was decided by a late overtime field goal.

The Titans defense had a strong showing with 4 total sacks, Amani Hooker nabbed 2 interceptions and they held Pat's running back Rhamondre Stevenson to 16 yards. (QB Drake Maye had 96 yards rushing)

It's worth noting here that despite winning more games (4) in his first season with a rookie QB. Patriots HC Jared Mayo lost his job in January. While Callahan who won less games (3) with a second year QB, retained his job. How's that for patience, Peter? This game would be the lone win at home in Nashville during the Callahan era.

Houston Texans 11-24-24 Final Score 32-27 ('24 record of 10-7)

Undoubtedly the most exiting of 2024's three wins. Will Levis was back at the helm and had one of his best games, putting up a passer rating of 123.3 while being sacked 8 times. It's as if the entire team -outside of pass protection- performed at a high level.

With the lead changing 6 times, and electric scoring plays by both teams, Harold Landry III put the final nail in the coffin with a C.J. Stroud Safety with under 2 minutes.

While sadly unusual, the team seemed highly motivated in this game. Afterwards several players dedicated the win to Miss Amy. (Houston, Oilers, and all that)

At this point, I'll pause and discuss Will Levis. Bengals 12-15-24: We were all aware of the early season meme-lord antics of Mayo-Man Billy Jeans. But by this point in the season, we had also experienced 4 games with 5-year career backup Mason Rudolph at the helm (4 TD 4 INT Rating of 75.2) and since Will Levis regained the starting role in week 10, he had actually performed at a relatively high level : (from weeks 10 through 13 Levis posted a passer rating of 101.4, 7 TD, 2 INT) and while coming off a disappointing 6 point performance vs the Jags in week 14, he was understandably benched after his fourth turnover versus the Bengals the following week. – I understand benching the player for the remainder of a game like this –

..It's the continued benching the following 3 weeks of the second year, highly talented 2nd round draft pick (that your team traded up for) in favor of a known-backup that I find ((((highly questionable)))) Why? what is the point of continuing to test drive the known backup in an already lost season? When you know you'll have the opportunity to draft or sign another attractive QB option during the month-away offseason, would you not want to continue evaluating your invested-in young QB with upside? How does it help his confidence as a player to ride the bench after essentially one really bad game, or shoot, a series of 8 really bad plays, out of an otherwise solid month?

Further continuing to ride the backup after he posted 3 interceptions the very next week made this even more puzzling. I could not understand what this accomplished. And as Rudolph was set to start the week after the Bengals game, Callahan said “I should be very clear that it doesn’t mean this is the end of Will’s ability to be a good quarterback. Situationally in the season and where we’re at, feel like we needed a spark at the quarterback position.”

It was at this point, that Callahan lost me. Cause "situationally in the season, where you're at" was flipping 3-10. Let the young gun throw the ball.

Arizona Cardinals 10-5-25 Final Score 22-21. ('25 record at time of writing: 2-4)

Fun and memorable game, sure. But facts are facts, and the fact of the matter is I've never seen a team try so hard to hand the other the team a win in my life (and I'm also a Packer fan who experienced the 2014 NFCCG meltdown vs the Seahawks)

The highlights of this game include a Cardinals player dropping the ball as he crossed the plane, resulting in a touchback. The center for the Cardinals snapping the ball directly into his quarterback's facemask. And an interception by the Cardinals being fumbled into the end zone for a Titans touchdown.

A win is a win, and I'm proud they won it. And although they did fight for it, it was more gift than reward. This would prove to be the final win of the Callahan era.

15 comments

  1. The only really “impressive” win from his tenure was beating the Texans. What a god awful coach.

  2. Good breakdown, what a sad era for Titans fans. I have learned to tune out the national media whenever it comes to Titans analysis. Currently, we’re looked at as one of the inept teams in the NFL, so any decision they make is already going to be considered bad and the pile on continues.

    My only other point is my recollection of Rudolph finishing the 2024 season was injury-related, not just performance. Levis’s shoulder was a liability and he lost zip on the ball later in the year, whether it got re-aggravated or just got worse.

  3. That’s a good point about the benching of Levis. At the time, I was for it because it seemed like Levis was the problem, but in hindsight, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to roll with Rudolph for the rest of the year.

  4. Anyone who talks about patience did not watch this team week in and week out. Its easy to say a coach that was only at the helm for 23 games with a not so good roster did not get enough time. Thats all ill say. The ineptitude was clear from even the most casual of football fans, and he had no redeeming qualities as a leader to make up for the fact that he was last in almost all offensive metrics after being billed as an offensively gifted coach. No growth from either quarterback he was tasked to develop….regression actually. Its not rocket science.

    Im actually a bit concerned it took Amy to finally make the change. There was no need to continue this experiment for the sake of patience. And now Borgonzi/Brinker are on the clock….they get this coaching hire right or we essentially lose Cam and set this team back another 3-5 years. I loved Borgonizis draft, but the FA class hasn’t been very good, and if the Brownlee trade was his doing its a black mark on his record. Still happy to have him, but this coaching hire means everything for this FO and they have plenty of time now to do their due diligence. At the end of the day, if Cam ascends and we start winning, these questions wont keep getting asked.

  5. The Bengals game was one of the worst quarterbacked games I’ve ever seen considering how awful Cincy’s defense was. Levis earned that benching

  6. I felt all off season that Levis was given the shit end of the stick as the fall guy for Callahan. This summary only further justifies that for me really.

    Hindsight being 20-20 trading out of #1 and loading up on talent had a ton of merit as a strategy even if Levis sat out the whole season injured.

  7. Yep. Not benching NPF, or anyone on special teams, not calling out Colt or even considering a change on special teams coaching until he was forced to, but randomly benching his quarterback multiple weeks told me his coaching was shit.
    He also let Will Levis take all the heat for the sacks after he had clearly told him to protect the ball better and just take the sack instead of trying to play hero ball shows me he didn’t have his player’s backs.

    On that topic, Levis was clearly injured in a dive for first down on the sideline, Callahan brought him back too early so his accuracy was off and he got picked. Anyone who saw his shoulder selfie can see how fucked it was and insane that Callahan and training staff were still playing him.

    I wasn’t for keeping Callahan around after last year. He had shown me no in-game coaching aptitude last year. At least with Vrabel you would see him make calls in games and go, oh , that puts us in better position. Never with Callahan.
    No perceptible halftime adjustments with him.

    I also wasn’t a fan of taking Ward just because he was the top QB prospect. I think he throws a good ball and has a certain quickness, but we needed depth in several areas that a 1st round bundle trade could have brought and not just one pick. Ward is not a generational talent that could carry a depleted offense on his own. This year we saw Ward struggling with sacks the same as Levis did last year, despite an upgraded OL.

    Seeing Callahan giggling like a school girl when Ward worked out for them before the draft was vomit-inducing and told me they were gonna try to fix it all by drafting him first overall.

    I feel vindicated by the way this season has panned out. Doesn’t make me feel any better about the team. A good coach could have built on last year and won some of these games we were in at the half.

  8. It was weekly regression for me.

    Both years defense has started hot and burned out by week 5. Intensity on the offensive side of the ball was non-existent by week 3, execution was poor, penalties, and lack of juice.

    I honestly feel if Levis didn’t memelord the first few weeks and things played out poorly he might have been fired but he had a easy scapegoat. Now we need someone to come in and rehab Levis image so we can get something in return

  9. Adding on in that Patriots win, it went to overtime after Drake Maye had like a full minute in the pocket to run around and let one of his receivers get open in the end zone. Legitimately one of the most embarrassing defensive plays I’ve ever seen. I know we are bad / rebuilding but there’s enough parity in the NFL that we shouldn’t need acts of God to win games.

  10. Free Will Levis.

    Had the same crap oline, head coach, and play calling as Cam. Still stood in there and delivered dimes while taking a beating.

    played reckless at times but that can be cleaned up.

    Get him a developer of QBs and he’s gonna compete for a starting spot next year. Bookmark this

  13. I was a Levis guy. Thought he deserved more and was dealt a band hand. But he did not rise to meet any of the few opportunities he was provided. He was so desperate to make something out of busted plays, to swing for the fences and be a hero, he ended up as a joke. He wasn’t a good QB; he has the arm but not the head. Then we saw how fucked his shoulder was, that he forced himself to play like that. WTF? I love this kid, he has a hell of an arm and a lot of dawg in him, but if he were who we hoped he was we wouldn’t have drafted Cam.

  14. Levis got blasted before half in the Jags game. If I remember right, he was doing ok before that hit. I’m wondering if he aggravated his shoulder injury.

    The 2nd half of that game was terrible and it rolled right into the Bengals game.

  15. He was a decent hire on paper. Had a resume associated with respected QBs, advertised a “modern offense,” and was going to bring his HOF father to fix the O-Line. It didn’t work out.

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