Protect the Ball and Score Points | Press Conference

Protect the Ball and Score Points | Press Conference

So, I said yesterday, you know, a lot of things under under evaluation and a lot of things that you self-reflect on at the start that we’ve had so far and and things that we got to get better at. And one of the things that I think is going to help our football team, help me be a better head coach for our team uh is I’m going to hand over the play calling uh to Bo. And part of that process is uh and part of the decision- making in that in that process is that um you know, Bo’s been had had some interim experience calling. he’s been with the rookie quarterback before. That part of it will make it a little bit seamless in in that regard. The other part of it is that um our offensive staff and our our game planning process and system uh is going to remain in place. It’s it’s still a collaborative process. We rely on everybody to do their part. Um Nick is still the offensive coordinator. He’ll still maintain his uh same exact routine and process that he’s gone through to help me. And then Bo is going to step in as as the play caller on Sunday. it’ll allow me to to do a little more with our team and with the with all three phases, pay more time and attention to those things and less in the weeds of of getting ready to game plan. And um you know, one of the things I told the team and told the players after the after our game um is that look, everyone owns a mirror, right? We can all look at it. We can all see where we need to be better and what can help us be better. And uh I think this is one of the best things for us at the moment uh to help me do a better job as a head coach and and be more present and available for the football team. and um and less less involved in just the day-to-day minutia of getting ready to call a game. So, I think it’s going to be positive for us. I think it’ll help. And I think at the end of the day, too, the for our players, you know, it’s the same same thing as if there’s nothing I love more than than offensive game planning and calling plays. And for me to be able to do this for for the betterment of our team and to put us in better position, I think we should get the same from everybody that’s involved in the process. Why would you uh why did how did Nick take it when you decided to jump over him and go to Bow? Uh he took it well. He’s professional. He understands the uh that that’s the way that these things go sometimes, but but his role isn’t changing in terms of what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. Um his role in the process, his role on game day, all those things are exactly the same as they were before. Um and again, the play calling thing sometimes gets a little bit overblown, if you will. Uh because everyone’s got a role and we all got to process. You know, Bo’s still in charge of the the third down game plan and Tikeke and Mike McCoy do the red zone and Nick does all the base downs and Randy does the screens and so all those things are all going to stay the same. It doesn’t change that process any any bit whatsoever. It’s just, you know, the plays are at the end of the day on Sunday coming out of somebody else’s mouth. I’ll be still very present uh in the process. I’m involved in it. Um, but it’s just going to allow me to do more around the around the team and around in both other phases besides offense and special teams and defense. So, it’s not really to me at the end of the day, it’s it’s pretty pretty normal in this league for things like this. This isn’t some seismic shift or crazy change. It’s just trying to help me do my job a little better and and let some other people uh take on a little bit more. You were hired largely because you were a play caller. So, it it seems like a self-demotion, if you will, or whatever. What’s what’s kind of your feeling at at needing to to give it up when it was a big part of the reason that you were the choice here? Yeah, again, this is it’s a pretty pretty easy thing to do when it comes to trying to help the football team win and and do the best thing for, you know, what the job is. I got hired to be the head coach, you know, and part of that process was was being involved on offense, but my job is to be the the head coach of the football team. And um I think that this allows me to do that job a little bit better. um pay more attention to some things that that might require my attention and and be more present. So all those things are are are normal. I think it’s it’s all part of um you know where we’re at. We’re 0 and3 and so we’re trying to get better and I I think that that’s my same message to the players as it is here right there at this podium. So it sounds more as if you’re it’s more about you trying to get more of a big picture feel for yourself as it as it is to kind of a disappointment in in your play calling. Is that Yeah, I I’ve have zero disappointment in my play calling. I mean, uh I I don’t have any disappointment in that at all. Um but it’s just more just so I can I can see see the rest of it, see the big picture better and and do a better job of it. I know you talk about I guess two parts of coach and schematic and then position coach deal with technique fundamentals and all that. How will Bo kind of divide his time and trying to do both? Well, well, that’s why I mean that’s why we have a whole staff still. Um, that’s why I’m I’m still involved in it. Um, I think that everybody still has that’s why nothing’s changed. There’s no disruption to the routine or no disruption to the weekly process. That’s all the same. The system doesn’t change. We’re still going to run the offense we’ve worked and repped and and invested our time and energy into for the last whatever it is almost two years. And uh, that’s not going to change any. And so Bo’s still going to coach the quarterback. It’s that’s still part of his job. again, he’s he’s just he’s taken over the play calling responsibility on Sunday. So, he’ll have to be in a couple more things that maybe he wasn’t uh involved in directly as the quarterback coach, but u the roles and the processes are are still in place and he’s got a lot of help and a lot of people here uh that that do a really good job to help put him in position to call the game Sunday. I know you said nothing will change, but how will that work going forward as far as Bo working with Cam Ward as far as what plays he wants up, wants down, and that whole overall conversation? All the same. you know, we’re those those conversations happen with all of us anyway. You know, I’m in that quarterback room with those guys and um those they were all a part of it, both Bo and Nick. I mean, they those guys are together all day long and with the quarterback. So, that doesn’t change any those conversations weren’t private to me only. I mean, those guys were all in in the mix. So, um again, it should the the disruption to what is happening and how we do it is is going to be very minimal. This is related to to what some of the issues that you discussed yesterday. you know, some of the the questions surrounding you, you know, in the decisions in in the first three weeks. Is this the kind of thing that you want to I think it’s it’s less of that. I mean, there’s that’s all a part of the process certainly. Um, but yeah, I think it’s more just so I can be be a better head coach. Um, and not just an offensive play caller. I think that’s the the biggest thing for I think that’s what we need right now. And and that’s that’s my job to to make that decision and put myself in that spot to to help us win football games. And like I said before, I I don’t have any um I don’t have any preconceived notions about it. I’ve I’ve been open about, you know, if this was the best thing for us, then then I would do it. Um and I think that at the moment that’s that’s where we’re at. Would you consider Mike given that he’s got the most experiences play? Yeah, there’s there’s there was consideration certainly. Um Mike’s been in the role here just for a shorter amount of time and he’s he’s a very valuable piece for me. Mike’s been both from a schematic standpoint and a personal standpoint. Uh he’s been phenomenal. And I think that again the the idea was to try to take as as much um disruption and minimize that for the process and I think everybody’s got a really good role on offense right now. They know what’s expected. They know how to do it. They’ve done a really nice job. So trying to keep as much uh disruption away from that as possible and uh feel good about where we’re at. What makes what makes Bo a good coach? And uh and were you afraid you might even lose him at some point this off season? Um I mean Bo’s Bo interviewed with some teams for some coordinator jobs. Um he’s he’s widely respected around the league. He’s I got a lot of respect for how he goes about his business. Um I know the type of coach he is. I know what he’s what he’s capable of and and I know how he goes about his process. So um all those things are are all really positive uh for us and I’m I’m glad we have them. Um and I think he’s going to do a really good job. You and Chad and Mike have been pretty open about the way that you lean on each other. Um, how much of of discussions with those guys led to making this decision? That’s all part of the process. You know, we we communicate daily. We talk about everything. Um, there’s there’s nothing that goes on over the course of the day that that I don’t have a a conversation with both of those guys at different points. Sometimes together, but our communication, I think, is what leads to our strength and our ability to to operate. And um these jobs sometimes require, you know, some some self-reflection and and decisions that maybe sometimes personally you you struggle with and and you got to make the you got to look real hard at yourself and and do what’s best for the team. And I think that’s ultimately what uh where we’re at and what we’re trying to do is we want to win, you know, we want to win games and uh we want to put our team in great position to do so. And and that’s what the fun in this profession is. It’s not fun losing football games and and we want to put ourselves in a better spot and I think that’s was all part of the discussion. So, is that something that they suggested or just endorsed? No, that’s something this is this is something that I felt like would would help us the most. And um you know, we we talked through it. I think we talked through pros, cons, all those things and and ultimately at the end of the day uh felt like this was was going to be the best thing for our football team moving forward and and allow us to to allow me to do a better job as a head coach and allow our coaches to coach and and our players to play. And I think that’s that’s the the general mindset from the whole thing. And again, it’s this isn’t like uh it happens. It’s happened all the time. This is not an abnormal process uh for guy for guys in in these roles and and for how these processes work and trying to be better at the end of the day. And that’s that’s all that’s all I ask of our players. And it’s I’m no different. So, I’m trying to do a better job at at the job that I have. This uh job is going to entail. And how do you how much do you draw on your experience with the Raiders and taking this over? Yeah, that was uh obviously a great experience for me. Um being able to also work with a you know, take over an offense, work with a work with a rookie quarterback. You know, I’ll draw from those experiences, but we you know, we had a great staff with us. You know, stability is good. Um so, I’m really looking forward to working with our with our staff and working together and putting this thing together and go get a win on Sunday. How would you describe your philosophy as a play caller? Philosophy as a play caller. Uh protect the ball and win and score points. That’s it. Do you see the play calling changing materially from the way just the the general approach for this team coming into the year? Do you think that you’ll be really doing things a whole lot differently from the way they’ve been called? Yeah, we evaluate everything every week. Um, but we’re just going to call the best plays for our players on Sunday, put them in the best situations possible. Do you think it helps having some experience with the with a rookie quarterback with with agencies to be working? Yeah, it’s good. And you know, it’s it’s great because, you know, going from that quarterback coach to a role like this, being a play caller, I mean, I’m with him every day. You know, I talk to him every day. I check in at night. We have meetings. We got a meeting this afternoon. So, you know, that’s not going to change. And it’ll just be, you know, me and him rocking and roaring on on Sunday. What Brian tell you maybe making this change? What was that conversation like? If you could could share some of that. Um, you know, he he made the decision yesterday. Um, and we talked about some things and uh, you know, again, you know, he’s involved. Everybody’s still involved. That’s the good thing with the stability of everything. You know, the workflow is that and then it’s just the only change is just me calling on Sunday. I I know it’s fresh, but the conversation with Nick Holtz, Mike McCoy, obviously they’re going to help you. How’s that been so far? It’s been great. You know, we all we all work together. This is a you know, it’s obviously one of the best staffs I’ve ever been on. I mean, these guys that draw from their experiences, draw from my experiences. They’re all from different places, but you know, again, it’s all about the players and putting them in the best spots and, you know, you only get a certain amount of calls on Sunday and just got to hit on those. And they haven’t done play call plays before, like where are you as far as weighing analytics versus your gut? I I know like different guys have different Absolutely. But, you know, some things always come down um to where where you are in the game. I mean, there’s so many different scenarios you can go through. Obviously analytics help you get out ahead of it, right? You can look at that. Um where you are in the game, where’s the players, you know, what type of game has it gone to? You know, there’s obviously the games changed quarter to quarter, half to half. Um but yeah, all that goes into it and really you have, you know, just a couple seconds to make that call. So you’ve been on the field and Nick and Mike upstairs, correct? Is all all those logistics things? Yeah, we’re going to kind of take it day by day this week and kind of make a decision on kind of where what’s best spot for for the team and for myself. Cam still can highlight your relationship dating back to the spring. Just what have you done to build that closeness and how would you say he’s kind of put into that relationship too? Yeah, really just try to earn his trust um to where and coach him hard, you know, and he has that trust in me um and just and keep building building him. He’s a young player. He’s really smart. He takes in a lot of stuff. uh he’s uh you know there’s there’s things that you know the wins aren’t there but for me and his development the things I’ve seen him do um from you know from the first game to this previous game is some of the things he’s been able to do is incredible um from protection standpoint um from you know getting us into a better play maybe out of a out of a bad play into a better play um handling the run game you know all that stuff’s been great and he and he’s learning you know situational football you as he as the ball is moving, where are we at on the field? What do I need to do? You know, he’s learning, hey, I can’t hold on to the ball. I got to get out get the ball out of my hands, take less hits, find completions. So, it’s it’s great. You talked about getting ready for the Texans. What’s the challenge for as for you as a calling play for this team for the first time going against that defense? Yeah. Um, you know, it’s a new challenge every week um for an offense. You know, you obviously see, you know, who the game records are. You deal with those first. um where are the advantages for us in the defense? Um is it personnel standpoint, schematics, you know, what are our guys doing well? Um what do we do need to do more of? Um but it’s it’s it’s more about us than them. In your mind, what what are some of the things you have to do to protect a rookie quarterback from themselves that maybe you wouldn’t have to protect a veteran from? Yeah, just just constant subtle reminders throughout the game. you kind of you can be in their back pocket until 15 seconds, you know, on the clock is is making it easy for him whether he at home and away and and getting him up there, letting him get at the line of scrimmage, take a deep breath, you know, whether the play matters that he needs to know a certain coverage or not, he’s able to see the see the defense every snap, kind of know where where we are in a game. Um, and just kind of being in his back pocket there the la to that last 15 seconds. Part of what Brian just talked to us about was how taking this off his plate is going to allow him to be more involved with the other things going on, especially on Sundays. We see you on the sideline in in Cam’s hip pocket every week. With you having to now have that on your plate, how do you think logistically that will change your ability to to be with him? And does that allow Brian to spend more time with him? I think all the above. Um, you know, we’re all in this together. um I’ll still be there with him, you know, and then there’ll be some times where I got to, you know, go talk to a position group or two about some things going on in the game or where we’re going to go with it and kind of communicate, you know, so they can anticipate what’s what’s going to be called in the first couple plays, next third down, things like that. But, uh, you know, again, drawing from prior experiences, that that’s helps helps out. You think that’ll negatively impact the attention that Cam is getting? No, I think Cam’s going to be just fine.

Titans HC Brian Callahan and QB Coach Bo Hardegree address the media on Tuesday at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park.

00:00 – 09:05 HC Brian Callahan
09:06 – 15:09 QB Coach Bo Hardegree

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