It took six weeks, but the Tennessee Titans finally pulled the plug on head coach Brian Callahan. Starting 1-5, his record deteriorated to 4-19 in his career, the fourth-worst mark among all head coaches this century. As the offense, his supposed specialty, failed to showcase any juice to start the year, even with first overall pick Cam Ward handling quarterback duties, the organization could not see any path forward.
Ultimately, they chose to make a change on the sidelines. But it is unclear who will replacement will be in the long term. With the coaching carousel constantly evolving, there is a plethora of candidates available for the Titans to choose from. However, here are five names in particular that make the most sense as Tennessee’s next head coach.
Who Will Replace Brian Callahan on the Titans?
The conversation about who could be the man to save the Titans and potentially salvage Ward’s career is an interesting one. Immediately after the announcement, speculation was underway.
But former Detroit Lions quarterback turned analyst Dan Orlovsky had a four-man list that made perfect sense. His list includes:
Joe Brady
Joe Brady has been deemed a future NFL head coach since 2019, when he won the Broyles Award as the best assistant coach in college football. Then, LSU’s wide receivers coach in their championship run, overseeing Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, Brady has grown a lot since jumping to the NFL level.
A rocky stint as the offensive coordinator in Carolina dimmed his shine a bit, but Brady has helped Josh Allen secure an MVP and elevate his game even further. The Bills placed fourth in Offense Impact last year and have remained elite on that side of the football.
This year, too, they are the second-ranked unit. Allen continues to make a strong case to repeat as MVP, while James Cook has looked like one of the best running backs in the entire league.
At only 36, he could be a good option for a Titans team looking for an offensive option to nourish Ward in his mold and find the quarterback-head coach combo that could be their centerpiece for the foreseeable future.
Mike McCarthy
McCarthy went 49-35 in five seasons with the Cowboys but won just seven games this season, failing to meet preseason expectations. Dallas went 12-5 in McCarthy’s second, third, and fourth seasons but earned no more than one playoff win in those three appearances.
Jerry Jones ultimately decided not to renew McCarthy’s deal, but he is already drawing interest from other teams. The NFL is a game of inches, and during the McCarthy era, the Cowboys were capable of playing those tight spots.
Since 2020, Dallas has ranked fifth in winning percentage in one-score games (record: 22-16). Those regular-season numbers didn’t carry over to the postseason (0-2 in one-score games).
Still, it fueled their ability to qualify for three postseasons under McCarthy, and for Tennessee, that would already be a massive improvement over their current situation. McCarthy could be the perfect antidote for a Titans offense that ranks dead last on Offense Impact.
With a healthy Dak Prescott from 2021-2023, the Cowboys were a perennial top-10 offense in the NFL.
Jesse Minter
It’s complicated to do much better than Jesse Minter’s last three seasons as defensive coordinator for the Chargers (2024) and Michigan (2022-23). The Chargers had the top-ranked scoring defense in Minter’s first season. At the same time, the Wolverines ranked first in the FBS in 2023 and seventh in 2022. The turnaround in Los Angeles has been particularly impressive.
The Chargers faltered under Brandon Staley, never ranking higher than 24th in PFSN’s Defense Impact. That changed last year when they finished fourth on the metric despite returning the same personnel from 2023’s disappointing team.
Minter was also an assistant under John Harbaugh with the Ravens from 2017-20. In those seasons, Baltimore finished with a top-10 scoring defense every season. Strong pass defenses typically generate high levels of pressure.
He could make sure that the pressure isn’t on the offense, and Ward can learn the ropes comfortably without having to worry about putting up big numbers to ensure that the team remains competitive.
Vance Joseph
Vance Joseph took over the defensive coordinator position for the Denver Broncos in 2023. It took him a year to settle in, but the arrival of head coach Sean Payton allowed him to explore his full arsenal on the defensive end.
The results were immediate as the Broncos became one of the most fearsome defensive units in all of football. Ranking first on PFSN’s Defense Impact, they also housed the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in Pat Surtain.
This year, his unit hasn’t missed a bit, once again sitting atop the league on Defense Impact, with an absurd grade of 97.1, which would rank as the single-best unit this century, even better than the 2000 Baltimore Ravens that went on to win the Super Bowl.
Beyond these four names that Orlovsky had in mind, an underrated place that the Titans could explore is with the Cincinnati Bengals, whose offensive coordinator, Dan Pitcher, could be available for the right price.
Dan Pitcher
In Dan Pitcher’s first season as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator, Joe Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns. Pitcher, previously their quarterbacks coach, came from a scouting background but transitioned into coaching in 2016 and has risen up Cincinnati’s ranks ever since.
A former quarterback at Colgate, Pitcher has taken an already established superstar, Burrow, to another level in short order. For Tennessee, the hope will be that he can create a similar turnaround with their potential franchise quarterback as well.
