Matt Jones (Coach)

Titans Part Ways With Bill Callahan; Bo Hardegree To Remain Play-Caller

Expected to resign after the Titans fired Brian Callahan, offensive line coach Bill Callahan — Brian’s father — is indeed out in Tennessee. The Titans and the elder Callahan are going their separate ways, interim HC Mike McCoy announced Tuesday.

The Titans will split O-line coaching duties between Scott Fuchs and Matt Jones. Fuchs had been Bill Callahan’s assistant O-line coach, while Jones resides as an offensive assistant on the Titans’ staff. The Bill Callahan split was certainly anticipated given his son’s exit after just 23 games, and other teams are expected to pursue the well-regarded O-line coach.

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Although Mike McCoy has an extensive history calling plays and is now in a position to reinstall himself in that role, the veteran coach will keep quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree as the play-caller, McCoy said (via Titans.com’s Jim Wyatt). Brian Callahan gave Hardegree — the Raiders’ interim OC in 2023 — the call sheet ahead of Week 4.

McCoy served as the Chargers’ play-caller during his four-year run in San Diego, landing that job after calling plays for an explosive 2012 Broncos attack (in Peyton Manning‘s first year with the team). McCoy was also at the controls when the Broncos pivoted to a more Tim Tebow-friendly offense midseason in 2011, but the experienced staffer will work as a CEO HC to start his interim Titans run.

Bill Callahan, 69, has been in coaching since 1978. While his highest-profile jobs have come as the head coach of the Raiders (2002-03) and Nebraska (2004-07), he has settled in as one of this era’s top offensive line coaches. Helming a top-tier O-line in Cleveland earlier this decade, Callahan also worked with the Cowboys when Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin helped DeMarco Murray to the 2014 rushing title. He was on Jay Gruden‘s Washington staff from 2015-19, eventually taking over as interim HC when Gruden was fired early in te 2019 season.

The Titans reunited the Callahans, marking their first run as coaches on the same staff. It did not go well. A bizarre Cardinals collapse gave the Titans their only win this season, and the team ranks 31st in scoring and 32nd in yardage through six games. Pro Football Focus ranks Tennessee’s O-line — one housing three former first-round picks (Peter Skoronski, Kevin Zeitler, JC Latham) to go with high-priced free agents Dan Moore Jr. and Lloyd Cushenberry) — 26th in Bill Callahan’s second season. Fuchs, who joined the Titans last year after three seasons at Kansas, will join Jones — a Mike Vrabel holdover who previously spent four seasons as Tennessee-Martin’s O-line coach — in attempting to improve the unit.

McCoy did not mention other staff changes. The Titans plan to give their new interim HC “every opportunity,” per president of football ops Chad Brinker (via ESPN.com’s Turron Davenport) to stick as head coach. This has become an extraordinarily rare route for teams to take. Only the Raiders have made this move over the past seven years, and their decision to elevate Antonio Pierce to full-time HC backfired. Prior to Pierce’s ascent, Doug Marrone (Jaguars) was the most recent staffer to move from interim coach to the full-time leader. He did so in 2017.

McCoy, 53, went 27-37 as Chargers HC. The team made the playoffs in his 2013 debut, which featured a Philip Rivers Comeback Player of the Year season despite the QB not being injured previously, but did not return over his final three seasons. McCoy returned to Denver for an OC one-off (2017) and was a Cardinals OC one-and-done during Steve Wilks‘ short stint leading the way. After spending three years out of the NFL, McCoy resurfaced with the 2022 Jags under Doug Pederson. Brian Callahan hired him in March.

AFC Coaching Updates: Dolphins, Ravens, Titans, Jets, Patriots

The Dolphins announced that they had finalized their 2023 coaching staff three weeks ago. We have reported this offseason on most of the major changes, but here are a few included in their announcement that are new.

On the offensive side of the ball, there were some updates to the team’s assistants. Ricardo Allen moved on to coaching shortly after retirement last year, taking a role as the Dolphins special teams assistant. This year, Allen has moved to the offensive assistant position. Another new offensive assistant, Mike Judge returns to a coaching role after spending some time in the personnel department. Miami will also give former NFL wideout Max McCaffrey his first NFL coaching position. McCaffrey will serve as an offensive assistant after time coaching wide receivers at Northern Colorado.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins hired Steve Donatell. The son of former Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell worked under his father last year and will serve as a defensive assistant with Miami. Lastly, the team has promoted Ryan Slowik, who served as a senior defensive assistant in 2022. In 2023, Slowik will be the Dolphins outside linebackers coach.

Here are a few other coaching updates from around the conference:

  • With Tee Martin moving to quarterbacks coach, the Ravens hired former Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis to fill the wide receivers coaching position, according to the team’s Twitter account. Lewis coached the position in Kansas City for four seasons before moving to running backs.
  • Leaving Baltimore will be former safety Anthony Levine, according to ESPN’s Turron Davenport. Levine had reportedly taken up a role with the Ravens as a scouting and coaching assistant after retiring but will now accept a role with the Titans as a special teams assistant. Tennessee will also bring on Tom Quinn as a special teams assistant and Matt Jones as an offensive line assistant.
  • The Jets have hired Shaq Wilson to fill their assistant defensive line coaching role, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. Former assistant defensive line coach Greg Scruggs became the defensive line coach at Wisconsin, so New York went to the college ranks that took him away to find Wilson at South Carolina.
  • The Patriots have also added a former college staffer in Keith Jones, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. The former Arkansas assistant spent time with New England during the 2022 training camp as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship. Jones, who mostly worked with the Patriots’ defensive line, will be a coaching assistant in New England.