Titans Had to Move Fast to Hire Brian Callahan
Four teams left, and a busy week on the coaching carousel ahead …
• The Tennessee Titans were smart to move fast on Brian Callahan—who may have had multiple options had he let the week play out—and get their guy.
Because he wasn’t the primary play-caller with the Cincinnati Bengals, and because the offense he ran was loaded talent-wise, Callahan flew under the radar over the past few years. But the level of respect he has among his peers (and as we wrote in the takeaways), including his boss, is obvious, and a lot of folks are nodding at Tennessee’s decision to hire Callahan, as was reflected in my texts Monday night.
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The first piece of fallout here could be whether his father, Bill, winds up going with him to Nashville. Losing Bill Callahan would be a massive blow for a Browns team that’s already fired a handful of coaches, including offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, and would explain why they’ve checked on some line coaches (Seahawks OL coach Andy Dickerson is one) as they’ve looked to replace Van Pelt.
How much do the Browns value Bill Callahan? He’s making more than $3 million per year.
• On Monday, we featured Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones, who made one of the biggest plays of Kansas City’s win over the Buffalo Bills. Jones’s ability to shove left tackle Dion Dawkins back into Josh Allen altered Allen’s throw enough to force his attempt to hit an open Khalil Shakir in the back of the end zone to fall well short.
He and I talked about that, including his suggestion that the Chiefs hold off on putting him on the edge earlier in the game, which paid off. He also mentioned how much defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has meant to him over the past few years: “Spags is a wizard. I hope he doesn’t get a head coaching job, hoping he stay with me forever.” To which I had to ask … Does that mean that, after all the contractual animus you’ve had with the team, you’re planning to stay in Kansas City after all?
He smiled.
"If the Chiefs keep me, I’ll stay,” he says. “That’s always been the plan."
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• Another leftover from the weekend—I did get the chance to ask San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy about wiping his hand dry during the snap on Saturday night, something that the Fox camera folks did a great job of catching in-game.
“There were spurts of the rain coming down somewhat heavy and then other times where it was just sprinkling and we were able to get a grip on it and throw,” Purdy says. “The field was wet. When my center would snap the ball, I would sometimes get a wet ball. That’s when I think I wiped it a couple of times as I’m dropping. Got to find a way. Definitely played a factor in the beginning. That’s football.”
Safe to say, after some early issues, he wound up figuring it out.
• Yes, the Carolina Panthers hiring Dan Morgan as president of football operations and GM is reaching internally to hire someone off a staff that had a lot of people being fired in Carolina over the past two years. But there is a bigger picture, too.
Morgan was on the ground floor of builds with the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo, and his three years in Charlotte don’t erase that. He’s also going to work in a different setup in 2024.
My expectation is that, as we mentioned in the takeaways, is that Kansas City VP of football operations Brandt Tilis will come aboard to run the cap-analytics side of things for Morgan, and line up almost as a partner, rather than someone who works for the new GM. Tilis interviewed for the Panthers’ GM job twice, in 2021 and this year, and owner David Tepper clearly likes him.
• Give Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles credit for moving swiftly to fill their offensive coordinator opening, tabbing Seahawks OC Shane Waldron. Not only does Waldron bring three years of play-calling experience, he was in high demand. He’d interviewed for the New England Patriots coordinator opening already, and was on the Las Vegas Raiders’ radar as that search got off the ground, with Antonio Pierce officially in place now.
I’d wondered if it’d be tough for the Bears to find the right guy, given the perception that 2024 will be a make-or-break year for the football folks at Halas Hall. But because they moved fast, they were able to meet with a good range of people (they even traveled to California to sit down with Rams pass-game coordinator Zac Robinson and USC’s Kliff Kingsbury), and sell their job to a guy who had some options.
Of course, the chance, potentially, to coach USC’s Caleb Williams was something mentioned to me as a drawing card by candidates for the job (though Eberflus did defend Justin Fields in the interviews, as I understand it).
• The Patriots’ coordinator spots could get filled this week, too.
The first domino to fall could be DeMarcus Covington landing the defensive coordinator job. Covington, as it stands right now, is a strong favorite, and brings seven years of experience working in the building to the table—the past five as a defensive position coach alongside new head coach Jerod Mayo. The Patriots could also seek Denver Broncos defensive backs coach Christian Parker or Pittsburgh Steelers assistant defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander, both of whom interviewed for the coordinator job, to the defensive staff with Covington.
Then, there’s the offensive coordinator spot. Former Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley, who worked in the same job for the Los Angeles Rams last year, interviewed for the job Monday, and Robinson interviews Tuesday. And I think it’s possible the Patriots hire one of these “riser” types as coordinator, with a senior offensive assistant backstopping him.
I could also see Mayo adding an older assistant with head coaching experience as he settles into the job.
• We already know Pierce will have some former head coaches to lean on in Las Vegas, with both ex-Giants coach Tom Coughlin and ex-Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (Pierce played for Coughlin, and worked with Lewis at Arizona State). And those guys should be good counsel for what could be his most important hire—finding someone to run his offense.
I’d heard three names in the immediate aftermath of Pierce’s hire, and two of those are still available (Kingsbury and Luke Getsy), and have play-calling experience. Pierce also has guys who don’t have such experience—Robinson and Cincinnati QBs coach Dan Pitcher—on his list. But if he is leaning toward play-callers with previous experience, then Kingsbury and Getsy would make sense given the moves he’s already made.
It looks like Getsy will interview Friday.
• The New Orleans Saints are picking up the pace with their coordinator search, with Pitcher set for a second interview in New Orleans on Thursday after meeting with the team over Zoom last week. Pitcher will likely have the opportunity to replace Brian Callahan in his current spot, but could have a chance to call plays elsewhere.
It’s a tough call because obviously these other places don’t have Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
• Bobby Slowik’s candidacy has picked up steam with the Houston Texans OC drawing a second interview with the Washington Commanders on Tuesday and the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday. He’s not considered the favorite in either spot, but clearly has momentum in both. And if the Texans lose him, it’ll be interesting to see where DeMeco Ryans would turn. Quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, who has a tight bond with C.J. Stroud, would probably be at the top of the list, but he’s drawn some coordinator interest from other teams as well.
If both Slowik and Johnson were gone? I wonder if the Texans would make a call to Josh McDaniels, given his track record with young quarterbacks, and the presence of his college teammate Nick Caserio in Houston (McDaniels’s brother, Ben, is also on staff there).
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• It’s eye-opening how fast things have come undone with the Philadelphia Eagles, with both coordinators now out, and Nick Sirianni going through a staff reset a year after coaching in a Super Bowl. And it made me think of how Sirianni had the entire staff gather after a Week 18 win last year after clinching the NFC’s top seed. He did it because it’s always what his dad and brothers—as high school coaches—would do after games on Friday nights. The extra week off also gave him that opportunity.
The coaches gathered at then-coordinator Shane Steichen’s house, and showed the closeness of Sirianni’s staff, which was made up mostly of guys the same age, with kids the same age, and with coaches who came in together. The good vibes, of course, carried through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl, and seemed to give Philly a tough-to-shake foundation.
Twelve months later, and in the aftermath of Steichen and Jonathan Gannon getting their own opportunities with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, that feeling those guys built is gone, and so are Steichen and Gannon’s replacements. Things change fast in the NFL.