8:15pm: Bill Callahan is indeed expected to draw interest from another team before the end of the season, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
4:56pm: In the wake of Brian Callahan‘s firing, it was unclear who would take over head coaching duties for the remainder of the campaign. The Titans now have an internal replacement in place. 
Senior offensive assistant Mike McCoy is being promoted to interim head coach, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. McCoy has head coaching experience at the NFL level, so he was regarded by many as the top internal candidate to replace Callahan. As such, this move (which is now official) comes as little surprise.
McCoy, 53, coached the Chargers from 2013-16. That span began with two straight 9-7 campaigns but ended with records of 4-12 and then 5-11. Callahan managed a mark of just 4-19 during his time with the Titans, but the team will hope for a turnaround of some kind under a more experienced staffer.
McCoy returned to his role as offensive coordinator of the Broncos after his Chargers tenure ended. That lasted one season and was followed by another one-and-done run in an OC capacity with the Cardinals. McCoy worked as the Jaguars’ quarterbacks coach for three seasons before the arrival of a new regime this winter led to a number of changes. That resulted in his Titans gig, one which will now consist of head coaching duties to close out the year.
Tennessee struggled on both sides of the ball last season under Callahan, and the first six games of 2025 has not yielded much in the way of progress. Quarterback Cam Ward will look to continue developing during his rookie season, but he has already witnessed a change in offensive play-caller and now a switch at the head coaching spot. McCoy will aim to offer stability over the coming weeks while the search for a full-time head coach (presumably) begins.
In other coaching news, veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky reports offensive line coach Bill Callahan – Brian’s father – is expected to resign. The elder Callahan is highly experienced, particularly working with O-linemen at the NFL level, and he has operated as an interim head coach in the past. With his son having been dismissed, however, Bill’s future will be something to watch closely.
Turnover in multiple levels of the organization has been a constant for the Titans over the past few years. That has included multiple GM changes and a short-lived attempt to replace Mike Vrabel following his dismissal. Vrabel and the Patriots will visit Tennessee in Week 7, McCoy’s first action as an NFL head coach in nine years.
Seems like a whatever kind of choice. McCoy rode Peyton Manning’s coattails to the Chargers job and took a middling team and ground them into one of the worst in football. Then did nothing positive for the Broncos before having the worst offense in football with the Cardinals (dead last in points scored and yards). And can anyone say he did anything to develop Trevor Lawrence over the last three years? Talk about failing upwards.
I agree that McCoy’s track record is not pretty.
But at this point, the Titans just need to get through the season, and he’s the only person on the staff with any head coaching experience. You could argue Dennard Wilson would be a better choice, but if the Titans don’t select him as their permanent head coach next year, they would risk losing their up and coming defensive coordinator (and the defense is the only thing working for this team rn)
This is such a roll the dice, Amy Adams move. She has “Jerry Jones” delusions of greatness without any knowledge of the sport. But who knows.. even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.
The team had six straight winning seasons early in her time as owner, including the years with Vrabel, who was hired while she was owner. Now she hired Mike Borgonzi to be GM, who lots of other teams had tried to poach, so no, pretty different from Jones.
She wasted any goodwill that Robinson (and Vrabel) earned by firing both of them, after first playing them against each other. She also played Carthon against Vrabel, and then played Carthon against Callahan, and then Callahan against Brinker. Whatever your past employees did for you years ago doesn’t eliminate blame for having a mind-boggingly poor leadership acumen.
You know the actual players in that building didn’t say it happened like that, don’t you? Leslie Woodyard spoke on this extensively about how Vrabel was the typical Belichick disciple in how he treated his players, which is where the problem came from. He’s the one who pushed Robinson out for his hand picked guy who he took with him this off-season to the Patriots. He didn’t get along with either Carthon or Robinson.
If I did know them, I’d probably call Wesley Woodyard by his correct name.
Yeah, because that’s relevant to that you’re wrong. Vrabel was the one who pushed Robinson out, and he was fired because he didn’t want to work with Carthon. He literally took the same guy he wanted to be his GM in Nashville with him to New England this last off-season when the Giants let him out of his contract. But it’s the owner’s fault that a typical Belichick disciple was being a typical Belichick disciple, treating people like crap and not wanting to listen to other football people in the building.
Oh, so you know people in the building?
I’d take Jerry’s 3 rings over Amy Adams’ current mess
I would, too. For all the crap that Jerry gets, some of which is deserved, his team doesn’t have the half the dysfunction that Tennessee has. Whether you see that as a defense of Jerry or an indictment of Strunk, it should sink in. I respect Oof immensely, but I disagree about Strunk. She’s made the decisions that have led to the Titans falling miserably from their contender status just several years ago.
These kinds of moves/choices are only about hiring a guy with experience of running a club past the Xs and Os. You don’t make an interim hire bc the guy is a genius who will turn the football team around. You make an interim hire to make what is going to be a chaotic ride as smooth as possible with a guy who has administrated a football team before. It’s about functional experience, not resume past that.
Sure the guy is using this as a lengthy job interview and may in fact show enough to get the job. But the main motivation is experience of running the thing as a whole per the transition.
Is he the REAL McCoy ??
Um, no… He’s Mike. Mike McCoy, not to be confused with Shady McCoy; who is also not to be confused with the REAL Slim Shady.
I hope that answers any questions.
From the TV show, “The REAL McCoys”.
Titans are a mess…would love to see Bill Callahan go back to Cleveland and get our OL straightened around….
I have a feeling Baker will lose another OC.
Titans are clearly going to want an offensive minded HC again but one that can help Ward.