When Amy Adams and the Titans fired Mike Vrabel, I was afraid they had made a huge mistake. That is not to say I am some football savant. Quite the opposite. Which is why the firing of Vrabel was all the more frustrating. The common fan was able to see that Mike was a good football coach with no a lot of roster help.
In his six seasons as Titans head coach, Vrabel accumulated a 54-45 record with three playoff appearances. In 2021, the Titans finished the season 12-5 and the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. Was Mike perfect? No. 2021 Titans team lost in the Divisional round to the eventual AFC-Champion Cincinnati Bengals. But before Jon Robinson crippled the Titans roster, the Titans were considered one of the best teams in the AFC. And after Jon’s mutilation of the team, Vrabel was still able to get the most out of those teams every week.
With the firing of Vrabel, it was supposed to be a new era of Titans football. Tennessee was going to finally innovate offensively with the rest of the league and bring an exciting brand of football to Nashville.
Enter Brian Callahan.
His first season has been marked by significant offensive struggles, leading to a 3–10 record and raising questions about the team’s leadership. Despite Callahan’s previous success as the “offensive coordinator” for the Cincinnati Bengals (can someone be an OC who doesn’t call plays), the Titans’ offense has failed to perform, ranking near the bottom of the league in several key categories.
• Yards per Game: The Titans are averaging 259.2 yards per game, placing them 31st in the NFL.
• Passing Yards per Game: With 145.8 passing yards per game, the team ranks last in the league.
• Points per Game: Scoring an average of 17.7 points per game, the Titans are 27th in this category.
These statistics indicate a significant decline from previous seasons, suggesting that the offensive schemes implemented by Callahan are not effectively utilizing the team’s talent. That’s not to say Robinson left this team with a lot of talent, but Vrabel was able to better utilize the tools at his disposal.
To be a coach in the NFL, you have to have a specific strength to lean on. For Andy Reid, it is his quiet-genius. The ability to draw up exciting plays, and his players are drawn to his calm-demeanor. For Dan Campbell, it his emotional excitability. He prepares each game like he is going to war with is team, and they respect him for it. He gets the most out of his players.
With Brian Callahan, I am unsure what that is. His personality is that of bland oatmeal. He doesn’t present that arrogant confidence that Vrabel brought and that the players respected. Callahan seems quiet and aloof. You can be that way if you bring another strength to the table like play-calling or in-game adjustments. Brian Callahan doesn’t appear to be strong necessarily in any of those areas.
It is apparent the team is getting frustrated with the lack of direction and success. After Sunday’s loss at home to the Jaguars where the Titans were a rare favorite, Jeff Simmons had this to say: “I don’t know. It’s frustrating to see that, especially right before the half. They knew we throwing the ball. We know they’re [planning] to rush. It’s frustrating. At the end of the day, tired of saying we’ve got to do better, we’ve got to play better. I have no answers. It’s just that the complementary football wasn’t there.”
Jeff Simmons has no answers, and it doesn’t appear like Brian Callahan does either. I know we are supposed to give coaches more than one year before a good firing, but something just feels off here. I don’t foresee Brian Callahan having success in Nashville. Hopefully, Amy sees it too.