Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Brian Callahan OUT, coaching candidate OPTIONS, new coach MUST SAVE Cam Ward

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

The Tennessee Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan. The team named senior offensive assistant Mike McCoy as interim coach. We react to the staff changes and discuss possible head coaching candidates.... We also dive into the option that best suits rookie QB Cam Ward.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Supply HouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.SquareTo learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Julian Mendenstone. The Titans have let go Brian Callahan, but we'll give you possible replacements as the next head coach of the Tennessee Titans. I'm Brad Hopkins. Oh, boy, it's Mike McCoy. What kind of a difference will he make? We'll see. I'm Tyler Rowland, and I'll tell you what Mike McCoy needs to do on offense to help Cam Ward. Titan up. It's the Titans squad. Everything Tennessee Titans every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart of Music City the way only the locked-on podcast network can. Squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome to the Titan Squad Show. As you heard off the top right there, I'm Julian Minuteson, joined by my friends Tyler Rowland and Brad
Starting point is 00:00:49 Hopkins. We have a jam-pack show for you today. It is not a quiet week in Nashville as the Titans fire head coach, Brian Callahan. We'll get to all of it. We just wanted to remind you, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul right now. New customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So we'll talk about Brian Callahan getting fired, Mike McCoy, getting named the interim head coach and some coaching candidates who we think could be the next head coach of the Tennessee Titans. And of course, we want you guys to like, comment, subscribe if you hear with us live. We're going to answer your questions throughout the show, your comments, because I'm sure you guys have a ton of them as
Starting point is 00:01:27 this is a jam-packed episode. But guys, I wanted to start with this because, Tyler, I know you had your reaction show yesterday, but now this is the first time we've all talked together since the news of Brian Callahan getting fired came down. What was your guys' initial reaction to hearing that news drop? Go, T-Row. Ding-dong, the Wicked Witch is dead.
Starting point is 00:01:47 You know what I mean? This is already off the rails. That's how it felt, you know, it felt like Munchkin land there for a second. Everybody was celebrating. And, you know, you feel bad because, Brian Callahan seems like a good guy. You know, I met him personally. He was nice. He was courteous. You know, he doesn't have to give anybody the time of day if he doesn't want to, and he does consistently.
Starting point is 00:02:07 So you do feel bad because he seems like a good person and a genuine person. But at the end of the day, the proof is the proof. He was an awful head football coach. And not everybody, as we've talked about before, is a head coach. So for me, it's kind of one of those things where, okay, now that the deed has been done, now we need to start climbing up. Now we need to start moving back. This feels like rock bottom for the team, you know, out of all of the stuff that's transpired over the last few years, this is the rock bottom and now we need to start building forward. So I kind of had a feeling of relief of okay, now that this is done,
Starting point is 00:02:42 maybe this team can at least start taking some baby steps towards being the team that we all hope that they can be. So I felt mostly relief but not surprised that it happened because who could watch this team over the last few weeks the start of this season and say that it wasn't deserved, you know, like he's one of the worst coaches statistically that we've seen in NFL history at this point. So it had to happen. I'm not shocked by it. And I'm just hoping that now that this is done,
Starting point is 00:03:10 we can start moving forward. Why am I seeing like Brian Callahan's two-tone blue Air Force ones sticking off them underneath the house because it landed on them? That's quite the visual, yeah. Yeah. You know, a team source said the writing was on the wall when Brian gave up the play calling duties, right? Which is exactly why he was hired, which was to affect the quarterback and obviously this offense and take them to another level. When you gave up those responsibilities, when you delegated them to Bo Hardigree or even the committee itself to do that, it just kind of, and to me, it hinted at a loss.
Starting point is 00:03:54 of control a little bit now the thing that we applaud him about is the thing that got him fired he's such a sweet guy yeah he's such a sweet guy he's always nice to talk to he's very eloquent in conversation he is uh accessible and those are the things that you like in a person but head coaches are a quirky bunch in other words they have to have hair triggers You've got to have a guy that you can walk up to and communicate with and understand the vision and have him be able to articulate with an air of leadership that makes you feel confident that he's got the plan. With Brian, I don't think that he always commanded the respect that a head coach should. At any point in time, you walk up to a guy that's a head coach and you get one or two versions,
Starting point is 00:04:49 the person that's really willing to speak with you and have these engaging conversations, or some of them might say, hey, look, this stuff ain't going right, and this is what's going to happen to get it done. Mike Grable is a wonderful dude, right? But he'll go off on you in a minute. And everybody knows that about him. Jeff Fisher, as nice as this guy was, well, that's big old mustache of his.
Starting point is 00:05:11 If you got sideways with him, he wasn't scared to get your butt. And at the end of the day, I don't think there was enough fear to a degree. I'm not saying fear like you expected him to just punch you in the mouth or something like that. But, I mean, fear that you would disappoint him. or fear that you would get his rage or his ire, I just don't think that that existed in the building. And that's one of the reasons why it made it easier for them to say, hey, look, we got to talk about change.
Starting point is 00:05:35 What was one of the things that were resonated most when Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi were speaking to the public yesterday? Growth. We didn't see any growth. And that's true. If you have Jeffrey Simmons saying they had their worst week of practice, after a win shouldn't you winning a game
Starting point is 00:05:57 the first one of the season all of a sudden give you some sort of enlightenment like hey man we can finally do some stuff and then you go out and you have the crappy week of practice which definitely showed on the field on Sunday with all the miscues and stillness going on it did seem like they had the worst week of practice it reflected in Las Vegas
Starting point is 00:06:15 so that in itself showed that hey that conversation that Burgundy Brinker and and Amy Adam Strung had Monday morning, it really didn't take long for them to say, hey, look, who's going to call Brian in here? Because this is going to happen, and it's going to happen today.
Starting point is 00:06:34 Yeah, you know, I'm not a big fire of the coach guy, but it was time. You know what I mean? Like from the mismanagement of the games that they've had this year to him relinquishing play calling duties like you guys mentioned, was the whole reason why he was hired. And I think the biggest thing is something they talked about,
Starting point is 00:06:49 Mike Forganzi and Chad Brinker talked about in their press conference after the news dropped was the lack there of growth from Cam Ward in particular. That's what this whole season is about, right? It is about his development, getting him to the next step. And he's regressed every single week, it seems. And so, you know, it's a decision that's hard because, like Bhop said, Brian Callahan is a really nice dude, but sometimes that doesn't always equate to the coach. And I think Bhop, what you're mentioning is you want kind of a commander of the room, right, a leader of men. And it just didn't seem like that Brian Callahan.
Starting point is 00:07:22 had that in the time that he was here, the past season in a quarter or whatever it is. Now, let me ask you guys this. Mike McCoy, named the interim, what do you guys want to see from him now as he takes over the range? He's going to talk, if you're with us live, he's going to talk at 1 p.m. today. This is on Tuesday. He's going to talk at 1 p.m. today and talk about the staff changes because it is an interesting situation too. You have Brian Callahan's dad, Bill Callahan is the offensive line coach. You have Nick Holtz, his best buddy, as the offensive coordinator. So what do you guys want to see from Mike McCoy and this team moving forward now? The 2013 version of him in San Diego, meaning that when he got the job, I think he replaced
Starting point is 00:08:03 North Turner. I can remember which one was the coach that he replaced. Started out the season four and six, something like that, well below 500, but then ended up winning the last six games of the season to get them into the playoffs. And I think that they beat the Bengals in that first round so somewhere in there he found a way to make this team realize its potential now obviously went downhill a couple of seasons after that i think he was five and seven maybe and and you know the record didn't say that hey we need to keep him around but that 2013 of mike mccoy his ability to affect i think it was a number of different quarterbacks in the positions that he's been in on other teams that's what they want to have because that was one of the things that was one of the things
Starting point is 00:08:47 that was mentioned most was Cam Ward's regression from the beginning of the year. And maybe that is partially what Cam talked about himself, individually, talking about no stability. You know, we haven't had stability here in a long time. That's what he said. Long time, boy, you've been here for seven months. You know what I'm saying? So are you talking about the dysfunction and instability that goes back to when Will Levis
Starting point is 00:09:09 was quarterbacking? Maybe. But at the end of the day, I think that maybe Mike McCoy, through the duration of the 2025 season, can find some sort of common ground to then start developing Cam Ward like he needs to be developing as the first pick of this year's draft. Well, they need to help him.
Starting point is 00:09:28 They need to help him. That's what they need desperately. And, you know, everybody was talking about the press conference last night and as we kind of talked about before we got on the show, I don't think there's anything that anybody could have said
Starting point is 00:09:40 in that press conference that would make anybody feel better. The team sucks, the product's bad. It's been bad for a while. There's no press conference answer that's going to make everybody go, oh yeah, I do feel better now. Like, things are going to get better. Like, no, that's not what's going to happen,
Starting point is 00:09:53 no matter who says it or what they say. But I'm more interested in hearing from Mike McCoy because Mike Borgonzi said that when Mike McCoy spoke for the first time that he's ever spoke to media since he's been with this organization, that he would go over some of the changes that they're going to make. And I think we already know that Bill Callahan is out. He's going to leave with the son.
Starting point is 00:10:11 He don't need the money. He doesn't need the cash. He doesn't need the job. He's going to leave with the son. It's already said, know that. Scott Fuchs is going to take over the offensive line duties. He was the assistant offensive line coach. Came from Kansas. Sure, that's fine. I'm more curious is, is Bo Hard agree going to keep calling plays? Is Nick Holes going to be demoted? And so what does
Starting point is 00:10:32 Nick Holes do? You know what I mean? Like, he didn't get a chance to call plays as the O.C. He, like, it's hard to figure out what his contribution is and whether it's in a good way. But even more than the changes on the coaching staff and who they hire and promote, demote, whatever. I'm just more interested in what they're going to do schematically for Cam Ward because Borganzi hinted at that as well. There's going to be some schematic changes, ideas or whatever, that Boston accent he has came up and said, they need to move Cam Ward out of the pocket more. They need to get more play action, 13% play action rate. It's like we see every single week that Cam Ward plays well in play action, which is kind of a cheat code for all quarterbacks because you're creating separation for a
Starting point is 00:11:14 wide receiver group that isn't very good. You're moving Cam out of the pocket getting away from a pass rush and an offensive line that's had their struggles. You're letting Cam get on the move where he's comfortable and can see the field better. Like there are so many advantages and they have a 13% play action rate their lowest of the season in week six against the Raiders. Like it just, it doesn't make any sense. So they need more play action. They need more pocket movement. They need more under center runs and less shotgun quick timing passing that doesn't work when you don't have receivers that can't separate immediately. So I'm curious to see what the actual football changes on the field are going to be from Mike McCoy taken over. To me,
Starting point is 00:11:51 that matters more than any other press conference or anything we've heard since this is what is going to happen on the field. Yeah, that's a great point, Tyler. Um, Mike and Chad both referenced Mike McCoy's conversation with the media today as far as some of the other changes are going to happen and it wasn't any you know surprise that he said there's going to be some staff changes which definitely need to take place you know i'm going to go out there and say it no matter how great bill callahan has been in the past he wasn't great for this organization didn't matter because at the end of the day through this vaunted offensive line coach why was your offensive line one of the liabilities in this offense i'm talking about the pre-snap stuff you i'm talking about
Starting point is 00:12:34 lining up offside or you know like not on the line scrimmage fall starting miscues and picking up certain blitzes and stunts. Yes. Simple stuff. You know what I'm saying? That obviously affect the quarterback's comfortability in the pocket. At the end of the day, there's no way in the world Cam Ward can be this confident quarterback in the pocket
Starting point is 00:12:52 knowing all the dysfunction he's dealing with up in front of them. You know, it starts there. So any kind of momentum that they started to get offensively, it was taken back by some stupid thing that was going on. You know what I mean? So just the little things, the attention to detail, those are super important and they were laxed with this team
Starting point is 00:13:12 and part of that comes with the assistants that were responsible. Now is that going to change with Scott being the offensive line coach now? No. All of a sudden they're going to stop jumping off sides. They're going to stop lining up all sides. They're going to stop doing those things that were problematic for this offense when Bill
Starting point is 00:13:28 was here. Why all of a sudden would they start changing the zebra stripes? You know, where they pissed off the bill and they said, hey, you know what we're going to do? We're going to go out here and we're going to screw this up as much as we can. So that way we can get on fire. That wasn't the conversation that they were having with each other, right? So what's going to change? They brought
Starting point is 00:13:44 in bums, and they're performing like bums. Just being honest, you know what I'm saying? When you look at guys that get highly compensated at certain positions, you expect a certain level of professionalism, which just doesn't happen. There were liabilities on somebody else's offense. They came here
Starting point is 00:14:02 and proved themselves to be liabilities here. That just hadn't changed. And there still needs to be growth. You're still dealing with some relatively young players at certain positions. Hell, J.C.'s going into his, what, second season? I wouldn't expect him to be performing like Kevin Zeitler, but I also saw Kevin be exploited in some instances, in one-on-one situations.
Starting point is 00:14:21 And this is a dude that came from a winning program like Detroit. So at the end of the day, they've all got to play better, but just specifically, when you look at position coaches and what they're tasked they're doing, were they able to get the job done all the time? I don't think so. there's a question here or yeah a comment from zack carpenter who is a regular on the show and it's something we talked about guys with callan's resume with burrow madding um and cars best seasons do you
Starting point is 00:14:49 think maybe they just made cali look really good now now i want to talk about something tyler had mentioned a couple shows ago is just he's trying to do stuff off or he was trying to do stuff offensively without burrow jemar chase t higgins type of talent it goes back to maybe what we were going to originally talk on the show about before the firing was, hey, how much is it this guy's offense is, you know, he's bullish on running it, and how much is it we need to fit it to the personnel that we have? That's the biggest problem. I mean, that's what I would say is the biggest issue is look at those quarterbacks. Burrow, Manning, Carr, Matthew Stafford is another guy that they worked with. Those guys don't have the same skill set as Cam Ward. Like that,
Starting point is 00:15:31 they don't play the same. That's not what Cam Ward's going to be good at. And Brian Callahan and continue to try to put a square peg into a round hole and he did it with Will Levis last year trying to get him in timing, precision, two-man route concepts on the front side, to the backside dig, all out of shotgun. And it just, those guys aren't fit for that type of offense. So you have to meet in the middle somewhat
Starting point is 00:15:55 and blend what you want to do with the skill set. And we were told that this is going to be like year two of Miami. I don't see a lot of Miami's playbook and what the Titans have done so far this year. So to me, at the end of the day, it was Brian, Brian Callahan was billed as an adapter, as an adjuster, change the offense to what they need to do. That's what he did in Cincinnati. But he was not willing to do that.
Starting point is 00:16:16 Truly, it was all talk at the end of the day. And seeing Cam Ward try to run a Joe Burrow offense, doesn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense. Seeing Will Levis, Will Levis looked a lot better in the play-action-heavy system that Tim Kelly and Mike Vrable were trying to run, then he did this quick-timing modern West Coast system that Brian Callahan was trying to run. And I think, you know, you can watch it.
Starting point is 00:16:38 It's just obvious he tried to make these guys play the way he wanted them to play instead of the way that they are capable of playing. And to me, that's no matter what level you're at. That's the sign of a good coach is being able to do what's best for your players, not what you want to do and you're comfortable with. And I didn't see that happen enough. Well, Tyler, I think he was spoiled with having guys that had tremendous accuracy and could win from within the pocket, right?
Starting point is 00:17:04 I'm not saying that Cam doesn't have accuracy. He's just not consistent. Timing wise, throwing wise, understanding defenses and going through a progression with an efficiency that allows him to get the ball of his hands, that kind of stuff. He was spoiled, Brian was, and expected that same kind of play because that's what he's used to. I get it. But it does seem like Brian Callahan would keep Lamar Jackson in the gun all the time and not use his feet. You know, Josh Allen, these quarterbacks that have diversity in their abilities, you've got to be able to tap into that. So that goes really back to what you were saying, Tyler, about moving the pocket, about getting Cam on the move, about not having him be in a certain setup point that allows him to be vulnerable.
Starting point is 00:17:48 And to honestly, and we've said this before, keep defenses honest by respecting his ability to use his legs. You know what I'm saying? You got to tap into that. So the fact that we don't see them, first off, using the run. In other words, let me ask you this. What is the most valuable position that this offense has this year? The RBs. Tony Fowler, yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:12 The explosive plays come. Tys J. Spares, too. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Even him coming out of the backfield in the passing game has shown to be effective. So I know nobody wants to hear this two yards in a cloud of dust kind of crap, but what it does do is it does what? it negates the third and unmanageable down in distances that almost make converting third down impossible.
Starting point is 00:18:33 You know what I'm saying? They've lived in that this year. Yes. I mean, we talked about this earlier. And I think it was one of your buddies, Tyler, that showed how often the Titans are in 11 personnel. 11 personnel is one tight and one running back, which means you got three receivers on the field versus the really effective, take control of the line scrimmage with more blockers than you have defenders and start making these. holes that make the run game a part of it. And Kim can also be a part of that conversation
Starting point is 00:19:01 when it comes to running the football. How about more design runs for him? I mean, we watched Michael Pennix Jr. We watched all these other quarterbacks over the weekend. Patrick Mahomes, how many times we see him get gone and not even sliding, but going face forward into getting first downs and stuff like that? We can do those kind of things with this dude because he has that kind of ability,
Starting point is 00:19:21 but yet we're scared to show it. Indeed. Well, on the other side of the break, We're going to talk about potential coaching candidates for the Titans. I know Tyler has a few in mind. And if you have some of in mind yourself, make sure to put them in the comments. We're trying to get to all of them here throughout the Titan Squad show.
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Starting point is 00:20:20 That's J-O-I-N-B-T dot com slash lockdown NFL. make sure to use the link so they know we sent you. All right, fellas, so we wanted to talk about now potential coaching candidates for the Titans. That's what happens when a coach gets fired as you look to what's next. Something interesting that Mike Borganzi and Chad Brinker said in their press conference was when they were asked if they felt responsible, particularly Chad Brinker responsible for hiring Brian Callahan and it kind of going south. He mentioned that he was a first year head coach.
Starting point is 00:20:58 And I know a lot of times, you know, for example, the Titans, they had Mike Vrable who was like Bhop was referring to a commander of the locker room, a stern individual. Then you go to Brian Callahan, who's kind of the offensive, as Tyler has put it, the mad scientist kind of type. So you always see maybe sometimes teams go in an opposite direction. But what are you looking for? You have maybe qualities at the head coach that you need to see
Starting point is 00:21:20 or maybe names and in particular that you, want them to really take a hard look at? Well, I think Mike McCarthy has to be at the top of the list. I think Mike McCarthy is an offensive guy. He's developed Aaron Rogers. He got the best out of Dak Prescott. He had three straight 12-win seasons when he was with Dallas, won a playoff game. Obviously, he has a Super Bowl to his name.
Starting point is 00:21:42 I think while that may be a boring hire, he's a guy who you know runs a professional program, and that's what the Titans need more than ever now. They need their Mike Mularky to kind of get this thing back to professional football. You know what I mean? Stabilizer. Exactly. I think that would be great for Cam Ward. I think that would be great for the franchise and just having a true professional head football coach who you know can do the job.
Starting point is 00:22:07 There's less risk with that. There may be less reward long term. And we can talk about the ins and outs of why that is, the lack of innovation and things like that. The youth factor there. But I think Mike McCarthy would make a ton of sense. there's connections with Green Bay and Chad Brinker that make a lot of sense as well there's connective tissue there
Starting point is 00:22:25 so I think that that one does fit perfectly I think Cliff Kingsbury is a guy who if you feel comfortable a lot of these guys mess up in their first try and failure create success in my opinion sometimes you've got to fail to be able to succeed look at like Baker Mayfield
Starting point is 00:22:43 would he be this good if he stayed with the Browns no that failure and going to Carolina going to L.A., then ending up in Tampa Bay. I think the journey has led Baker Mayfield to being the player that he is. And I think that's just emblematic of life in general. Sometimes you've got to stumble and learn how to pick yourself up to get better. So I think Mike McCarthy makes a ton of sense because of that.
Starting point is 00:23:04 Cliff Kingsbury, if he feels more comfortable being a leader, we know that he's an innovator. Look what he did for Jaden Daniels last year. He's a modern guy with an innovative scheme. I think that would be helpful for getting the most out of Cam Ward as well. So those are guys that make sense to me. A lot of people are big on Joe Brady from Buffalo, their offensive coordinator as well for the work that he's done. But you wonder, you know, Josh Allen's a heck of a player, man.
Starting point is 00:23:27 How much of that is Josh Allen? How much is Joe Brady? So those are the names that really stand out to me. I still personally, I want an offensive coach. I know that there's good defensive coaches out there. But the problem is, like we saw with Mike Vrable, you get a good defensive-minded head coach, you get a good offensive coordinator, they're going to be a head coach. And then can you rehire a new good offensive?
Starting point is 00:23:48 coordinator. And what does that do? Look at what's going on with the Texans right now. They can't get the offensive coordinator right. No matter how good of a head coach Demico Ryan's is, they can't get the offensive coordinator right, and it ruins their ability to be the level of team that they should be. So I still want an offensive coach. I think that Joe Brady is the up-and-coming would be a first-year guy. I think that's a bit too risky probably after going with Brian Callahan as a first-year guy. Cliff Kingsbury is the kind of middle ground to me. And then Mike McCart, is the safest choice that the Titans can make.
Starting point is 00:24:22 Well, what do you want? Boring winners or exciting losers? Boring winners. Give me boring winners. Give me Mike McCarty. McCarthy, ding, ding, ding, ding. Art Smith, with experience in the building. He knows where the bathrooms are. He knows where the Starbucks is.
Starting point is 00:24:40 And he's also got some relationships with some of the guys that are still on this roster. And guess what? It might seem boring because what, he likes to run the damn football. but at the end of the day, when your quarterback is still trying to figure it out, why wouldn't you take some of the pressure off of them by diversifying the offense? I'm going to tell you what I want. I want someone who is undoubtedly in control.
Starting point is 00:25:01 I want someone with a record of experience with winning cultures. I want someone that knows how to keep the attention of his players. Someone the players respect. I don't think the players worried about disappointing Brian. And that means something. If you know a guy will come absolutely unhinged when things, aren't correctly done the right way. You try to do your best to make sure it don't happen, right?
Starting point is 00:25:23 Brian was just a nice guy. Someone who has a plan. That's what I also want. I don't want someone who's tried and failed. I don't want someone who's never done it before. I mean, look at Ben Johnson. He was one of the hottest coordinators out there last year, right? His bearers squeaked out a win last night against the commanders,
Starting point is 00:25:42 but Caleb Williams ain't looked like some world beater. Aaron Glenn in New York is yet to win a game. You know, so if you think about just getting some coordinator that all of a sudden has had a lot of success on a winning team, whatever, is that I can guarantee you success. So give me a dude that has wore the head coaching hat that when players say, man, what's your resume? And the brother just does this. Bam! I got a ring. You see what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:26:06 That speaks to players. And Mike McCarthy is a big dude. Even by physical stature, when the man walks into a room, you can't avoid the fact that he's there. Sometimes you're probably looking over Brian's head. Is Coach Callahan here? Oh, there you are, Brian. How you doing, buddy? You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:26:22 So I'm trying to be tongue-in-cheek with that. But just his peer presence, I'm talking about Mike McCarthy, would say something. And the fact that he's been on two winning cultures in Dallas, in Green Bay, and it's had a lot of success there. To me, that makes sense. And that would resonate with the players responding to what a true leader looks like and is saying.
Starting point is 00:26:45 Yeah, certainly a resume would command respect. Let me ask you this, because, Brinker and Borgonzi said last night that they talked about how special teams is playing well, defense is playing well, but it's clearly the offense that has been an issue. Would that lend you to believe it? I know it's a small sample size in one press conference, right? They got a whole offseason, the rest of the season and off season to look. But would that lend you to believe they're going offensive-minded for a head coach?
Starting point is 00:27:10 They should. I mean, they should. They have to fix the offense. How many different ways do we have to see this team be good on defense and be terrible on offense. I would do anything to have a bad football team that plays good offense and let the defense be bad. Like, they have
Starting point is 00:27:26 to find a way to get the most out of Cam Ward. That's what matters the most. I think ultimately, that's why Amy woke up on Monday and said, you know what, I'm firing Callahan now. Because Cam Ward looked like a bum on Sunday. That's why. Because she cannot have the most important part of this organization
Starting point is 00:27:42 right now is Cam Ward. If he doesn't work, it's going to be a massive failure. It's going to ruin everything for more. years. You're going to be back to square one. So getting the best out of Cam Ward not only will help the organization, but it'll make the football team the best version of itself. We can figure out the defense after. That's why I'm still on board, like I mentioned earlier, with an offensive-minded head coach. I think that's the route that they need to go. I mean, they need a leader. They need a winner. They need someone who's going to do things. I get it. You know, I didn't want Dan Quinn and he's
Starting point is 00:28:10 looked good with the commanders. I didn't want Mike McDonald and he has the Seattle Seahawks looking good. Like I get that there are winners out there But again, I go back to Damiko Ryans The reason Mike Vrable ultimately got fired It just is such a task To try to replace your offensive coordinator And rekindle the connection with your quarterback over and over I think you need to get somebody with an offensive mind
Starting point is 00:28:32 Even if they don't call plays Okay, bring an offensive coordinator Who's going to call the plays for you That's perfectly fine But they need an offensive-minded head coach Who can make the best version of Cam Ward Because that will lift all boats Yeah. Well, first off, the plight of any defensive-minded coach is finding someone that can run your offense.
Starting point is 00:28:54 And to me, that's not putting enough resources into solving the biggest issue. The most important thing is to address, like you said, Tyler, the development of your quarterback. Now, if my biggest resource is my head coach and he can't affect the most important problem on this team, then that's a problem in itself. because at the end of the day, I'm hiring someone less than. I'm not putting the most resources into solving that biggest issue. We saw that Titans defense playing lights out in Vegas in the very beginning. They were harassing Gino. They were sacking his butt.
Starting point is 00:29:30 They were doing all kinds of stuff. But then when the offense for the Raiders started getting going, you know, started putting points on the board and our offense needed to respond, and we weren't. That then becomes a problem because at the end of the day, man, a defense can only hold up for so long without help from the other side of the football, right? Because at the end of the day, if an offense can continue to lean on you and lean on you and lean on you, man, you should start getting exhausted with that.
Starting point is 00:29:54 And then damn will break it. And next thing you know, the game's out of control and the results of it are a convincing win from the Raiders. That's what happened? Because we did ask what, Big Jeff and those other guys. Hell, we saw 53. What's his name? Jehah. jihad warb was getting in there now of course he had some issues you know but either way we
Starting point is 00:30:18 started to see other players getting involved and engaged other than big jeff jep big jess motor continued to show what it was over the past even five or six weeks that he can be destructive and got another sack you know what i'm saying so he's compiling the sacks getting the pressure the back end needs to take advantage of a quarterback that's clock is sped up because he's being harassed up front, right? But more consistently, the defense hasn't been the issue consistently that the offense has. And to put resources in less than developing that side of the football, to me, just doesn't make sense.
Starting point is 00:30:53 That's been a problem, the entire history of the organization. I mean, even back to your teams, like the defense, the run game, like this team has very rarely had an explosive offense that scored points. You know, it just, that's just the plight of a Tennessee Titans fan for 25, 30 years now as an old-school, run-the-ball, good defense team with an offense that you maybe, maybe can't always rely on to score a lot of points, and we've got to drag people down into the mud and beat them up and win that way. You just better hush your mouth, Tyler, because right now you speak blasphemy when it comes to number nine.
Starting point is 00:31:27 They call him Aaron McNair for a reason, bro. I'm not hitting on McNair, but we know the both sides of the offense if anything. I'm going to take what. That's where you got the Frank Whitechicks. That's where you got the fledgling Chris Sanders is. We had a Yancey thicket. We had some dudes that made that offense. What are we saying?
Starting point is 00:31:44 On both sides. And sure, it didn't hurt to have a two seven, a battering ram in the back field. At the end of the day, we could do a number of different things. You had to respect Steve's game in that respect. So it wasn't like we're in the damn football, man. Let's just be real. We weren't the greatest show on turf rams. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:32:02 Like that was a different level. And we should have seen that way to show on. I know. I'm not trying to go there, but I'll tell you what. Don't get me started on that. But ever since then, I mean, go past, like, when have the Titans had an explosive offense outside those two years, 2019 and 2020, where they could literally put up 30 points any given week?
Starting point is 00:32:22 Like, it's just, it's been the same thing for so long that I would do anything to have a good offense, even if they only win six or seven games, but the offense is really good and the defense kind of like. down just just give me that just please give me that like i just i need it desperately tyler's in need of it desperately that's for sure we got to get tyler off the ledge here he's been going through some tough times here with the tennessee titans of that show all right on the other side of the break we're going to talk about some comments and questions and concerns that you guys may have because the chat is popping off right now so we'll answer those questions
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Starting point is 00:33:47 let me ask you something because we talked about the potential coaching candidates and what we're looking for out of a head coach. But what makes you feel confident that the regime that's in play, with Amy Adams Strunk as the owner, Chad Brinker, President of Football Ops, and Mike Burgundy as the new GM, can make that right hire. Buck Rising asked that very question last night, didn't he?
Starting point is 00:34:12 Mike and Chad were up on the panel, and he said, why should the fans trust you? You know what I mean? You talk about first year guys. How much general manager experience do these guys have? How much putting together a roster and a coaching staff do these guys have? It seemed like they're trying to figure it out
Starting point is 00:34:28 as much as anything else you know so i mean time will tell obviously first off when to come to an owner you know what an owner's job is write checks you know what i'm saying find guys that can actually have the experience i don't now they're that one owner up in indianapolis the the the lady that sits on the sideline with the headset and the notepad and she looks like she's calling plays in there you know i mean she's only affecting what they do to a certain level because she's hiring people to to do those other things. In other words, I wouldn't expect a CEO of any company or an owner of a company to be doing the landscaping, to go out there and doing the selling, to putting together the staff. I mean, that's why you hire these certain positions of COO, CEO, doing all this stuff. Not everybody is Jerry Jones. So when it comes to Amy's job, Amy's job is to first off just make sure that this product is viable by getting the right people in that help her make the right decision. from a football operation standpoint, from a staffing standpoint, from a drafting standpoint that really makes this team viable for her interests as well as the fan base's interests.
Starting point is 00:35:40 But as far as the other people that, in other words, Mike and Chad said, hey, look, it's our responsibility moving forward just for who we draft, the people we hire, all those other things. I'm not sure it's a collective, but at the end of the day, there's a lot of pressure that's put on those guys to get it right. They fired John Robinson. They fired Rand Carthorn. So it seems like this carousel of change hasn't necessarily resulted in the kind of team
Starting point is 00:36:08 and the kind of franchise that AIM would want to have. But what do you do? Keep shooting bullets. I mean, at the end of the day, there's got to be like Cam said, some sort of stability that allows this team to kind of finally grow some roots in a foundation for winning. That question was a perfect example of what I was saying earlier
Starting point is 00:36:24 of nothing they say in these press conference is going to make anybody happy. What, you think there's a good answer to, oh, why should we trust you? You shouldn't. There is nothing you can say to make somebody trust you when you've messed up a million things. Like, we're just going to take his word for it? Like, what answer could be good? What answer could they give to why should we trust you to build this team back to good? What answer would they give where everybody goes, oh yeah, you know what?
Starting point is 00:36:51 I do trust them now. You know, like, it's just silliness. It's just absolute silliness. Like, these words are nonsensical. I just couldn't stand the press conference, the reaction to it. Where's Amy? She's at home. Like, what do you want them to say?
Starting point is 00:37:06 What would be a good answer? Oh, she's in the back making coffee for us right now. Like, it's just so childish. Some of these questions that I hear at this thing. Like, again, nothing is going to matter until they do it on the field. It's like if, you know, you catch your significant other, texting somebody or on a dating app or something. What do you mean? Trust me. I won't ever do it again. Like, no, I can't trust you. How does trust work for you people? Like words don't mean
Starting point is 00:37:33 anything to me when it comes to trust. So I just thought it was just such a dog and pony show. It was just so stupid and nonsensical. The questions, the reactions to it. The team sucks until they get better, nobody's going to care what anybody has to say. It's just all nonsensical to me at the end of the day but the question the only way they can answer it is my experience Chad Brinker
Starting point is 00:37:58 they said the exact perfect answer to that question Mike Burgonzi's been a part of a successful organization that's won multiple Super Bowls he's seen what winning football looks like and what building a good team looks like Chad Brinker in Green Bay one of the most consistent stable organizations of my entire life
Starting point is 00:38:16 he's seen what a good team and good roster building and good players and winning football looks like. What other answer could they possibly give other than we know what good looks like? Like, there is no other answer that could possibly give. So I thought, you know, I thought it was a stupid question. I get why it has to be asked,
Starting point is 00:38:33 but there is no answer that these dudes could give that will garner any public support other than putting a winning product on the field. And the only good answer to that, like I said, is, well, I've seen winning football before and I'm going to try to replicate that here. But like, that's not going to make any. of us trust any of them right now when everyone's firing brimstone and throwing arrows and darts
Starting point is 00:38:54 and people want Amy to show up. Why? So you could throw tomatoes at her. She's just going to say the same thing. We messed up. It didn't work. We need to see better football. We're going to do our best. We care. We're going to try. You know, like what else is there to say other than that? How many different ways and phrases and, you know, paragraphs. Do you want these people to say? Like there is no good answer to bad football. It's just get better, kid. You know, it's that simple. There's nothing else to say. So I thought, what is going to make you trust them? Nothing. Nothing's going to make me trust them except them doing it, you know?
Starting point is 00:39:26 And there's no words or phrases or things that they can say that's going to make me feel any different about it. You've got to prove it. Yeah, it was a press conference awesome just for the sake of because they needed to put somebody out there, you know, after a firing like that. You have to, you know. You mentioned on the field stuff.
Starting point is 00:39:43 Zach Carpenter has a question here. Our past two games, most of our points and yards came in the fourth quarter when we had to be aggressive. Do you think McCoy, it's Mike McCoy, the new interim head coach, will be more aggressive early in games. He has nothing to lose as an intern, is what they said. So, well, what do you-
Starting point is 00:39:57 Will defenses back up? That's what's happening, guys. Like, that's why all of Cam Ward's time is, you ever heard the term garbage time? That's what's happening. They're down 10 points. They're down multiple scores in the fourth quarter. The defense is playing more conservative coverages.
Starting point is 00:40:11 They're not, the defense. It's not that the Titans are being more aggressive in the fourth quarter. It's the defenses are being less. aggressive in the fourth quarter because they're up double digits and they don't want the Titans to get explosive plays down the field. So Cam Ward can get all these little easy completions to Chica Conquo and Gunnar Helm and the running backs and they can turn up field and get 10 to 12 yards blah blah because the defense is hanging back because they don't want to give up plays down the
Starting point is 00:40:34 field to give easy opportunities for the Titans to come back like I hate the crap on the rain on the parade here but let's be real about what's happening they're down double digits in the fourth quarter defenses are getting conservative and backing off and playing shell cover just so that They don't give up explosives, and Cam Ward is dinking and dunking his way to decent stat lines in the fourth quarter. It's not Arizona, you can't call it that because they started coming back. And Cam made some great throws down the field, but against the Colts, this last game against the Raiders, the Texans game, yeah, look better in the fourth quarter because the defense is just trying to make sure you don't come back.
Starting point is 00:41:07 So let's not fool ourselves that the Titans all of a sudden change their approach in the fourth quarter and now they're playing better football. It's the defense that is playing different because they're up by so much. Yeah, in that question, it says, do you think McCoy will be more aggressive early in games? What difference would it being aggressive make if you continue to shoot yourself in the foot? You see what I'm saying? So those basic elementary issues that have plagued the Titans as far as consistency, we don't have it. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:41:40 So I can sit here and come up with all these master plays and double plays and dropping back deep and trying to make explosive things happen. But with little time to do it, and most instances, holding calls or jumping off sides or stupid stuff that negates drives continue to happen, you're going to do three and out. How football is won is by what? Time of possession and controlling the line of scrimmage. If you win the time of possession game, that means that your offense is on the field more so than it's not, right? That means that you're, and to do that, you have to be converting third downs and getting a new set of downs that continue all the way up until you either score touch. down or a field goal that is yet to happen because we've been losing time of possession we've been losing up front when it comes to winning the line of scrimmage so at the end of the day if you don't
Starting point is 00:42:28 fix the foundation of football which is dudes that can punch you in the mouth and give an offense confidence that it can do whatever it wants to do they're going to continue to have the same issues because guess what guys the same things that cam ward is dealing with are the same things that will levis dealt with. The same things that Ryan Tannehill dealt with. And at the end of the day, the change at quarterback hasn't changed anything else that has been problematic for this offense, period. MC Rand has another pretty good question. Talking about Mike McCarthy and you guys is pleading for him to be potentially the next head coach. We need to hire a coach of the future. Mike McCarthy is not going to last five to 10 years like a Joe Brady could. Don't hire a reach it.
Starting point is 00:43:08 But my argument to that is they tried that with Brian Callahan and that obviously just did not work. Yeah, it's insane to think that people, I think there's a lot of people who are young or who haven't had time to fail in their lives or just are incapable of growth who don't realize that you have to fail to get better. It doesn't mean that every coach is going to be better in their second opportunity. But think about saying that about Bill Belichick. Imagine if someone was in the chat right now going, Bill Belichick failed with the Browns, we don't want to retread, we can't do that.
Starting point is 00:43:41 Oh, well, then he goes to the Patriots and turns into maybe one of the best coaches. of all time. Think about if someone said that about Dan Quinn, who's got the freaking commanders in a way better spot. Think about Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll failed and then goes to the Seahawks. I mean, it's just there are so many examples in NFL history of guys getting more opportunities and doing better the second time. Think about it as somebody was in the chat saying right now, we don't want another retread, we don't want Baker Mayfield.
Starting point is 00:44:09 We don't want Sam Darnold. but like it's just such a silly close-minded way to look at life in general like sometimes people fail and sometimes they get better it doesn't mean that they're going to be good in their second opportunity but and thinking about five to ten years down the road can we think about next year? Can we think about 2027?
Starting point is 00:44:30 Like why are we thinking about five to ten years down the road when this team can't get five to ten wins? You know, I just don't understand the thought process of what people are looking for. you know, we just did the Joe Brady thing with Brian Callahan. It didn't work. So I just totally disagree on, I'm not saying don't go with Joe Brady,
Starting point is 00:44:48 but using that sort of mentality to push Mike McCarthy to the bottom of the pile doesn't really make a lot of sense. That's why I said in my, what you wanted to have in your coach, I said I didn't want someone who basically didn't have the experience of being the guy. Because the only reason why youth
Starting point is 00:45:06 or someone younger sounds so attractive is because we don't know the history because there isn't any. When you look at a guy like Mike McCarthy, when you look at a guy that has obviously been in that seat and has not necessarily in the last iteration of him had a lot of success, it's easier to say, well, that guy did this wrong or that guy did that wrong, but at least he was in the seat versus somebody that we don't know what he's going to do, just like Brian Callahan. You know, Brian had never been a head coach before, okay?
Starting point is 00:45:34 He had never had that responsibility before. and it's not going to guarantee just because he coached with great players that all of a sudden that that was going to transition and translate into our having success because he's been in a role that's completely foreign to him you've seen head coaches you work with head coaches but you've never been one so the difference is I can read up all day long on how to perform surgery right but if I've never had a scalp of my hand and never cut on anybody would you trust me with your life yeah no you wouldn't you give me that guy that's had a that's had 600 hours of surgery, right, and has done it time and time again because of a track record of doing the job, you want to feel more comfortable with that person versus somebody that's fresh off the boat. I ain't doing that what that do. And it would be one thing if the Titans had a good culture,
Starting point is 00:46:24 if they had a lot of veteran players who had played together for a few years, they had superstars on the team, they just needed to take it to the next level. Then you're like, okay, let's bring in an innovator who can do some special things that we haven't done. But when you're at the Titans position and you literally have no culture whatsoever, you do need to bring in someone with experience who's done it before.
Starting point is 00:46:44 You can't take the same risk that you just took with a guy who you don't know if can lead the locker room. So, you know, different situations are different places. And this is why, like, I struggle with the chat. People, you know, Bill Belichick didn't succeed with the Browns' his ignorance. Well, he got fired.
Starting point is 00:47:01 So if we're talking about a guy who got fired and we can't do a retread, retread just means you got fired once and you're getting hired again so what are we really talking about here it's just a lot of nonsense well everyone said i mean andy reed got fired right yeah yeah yeah he sucks bradne turn that green jacket we can do a retrain yeah what do you guys think what do you guys think of somebody because somebody asked about kevin stefansky with the browns um and you know though they have they're not having a great season he is a two-time coach of the year, and the idea of, like you mentioned, Tyler, doing more with less.
Starting point is 00:47:39 Mm-hmm. He always has. I mean, he always has. And listen, how much you want to blame Kevin Stefansky for the decisions that the front office of the Cleveland Browns has made is really what the crux of this discussion is going to be about. But do I believe that Kevin Stefansky was 100% on board with getting rid of Baker Mayfield, trading for Deshawn Watson and giving him a $250 million of guaranteed money? Do I think that Kevin Stefansky wanted to waste four draft picks in the same draft class on two quarterbacks in the third round or lower
Starting point is 00:48:09 when the plan is to use two first round picks that you got in a trade to take a quarterback again next year. I'm sorry. I don't think that that's what Kevin Stefansky wanted to do as a head coach. Maybe you could disagree with that and say you do think he was on board but I don't think Kevin Stefansky
Starting point is 00:48:22 has been on board with a lot of the moves that the Brown's organization has made and I think he's proven over and over again he's going to get the best out of what's available to him. He did it with Joe Flacco taking them 11 and 5 to the playoffs. He's done it with subpar weapons and shaky offensive lines and all this. I think Kevin Stefansky would be a home run hire for the Titans,
Starting point is 00:48:42 and I would run to hire him immediately if the Browns are dumb enough to fire him. Well, we're talking about all these coaching candidates. A former coach for the Titans is going to be making his way to Nashville this weekend. We're going to talk about the upcoming matchup with Mike Brable. Things could get spooky at Nissan Stadium. We'll talk about it next year in the Titans Squad Show. All right. The NFL season is here, and Fanduil has an offer you don't want to miss right now.
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Starting point is 00:49:33 So when the schedule came out, this upcoming game was probably the one that a lot of fans circled on the calendar. Mike Brable's returned to Nissan Stadium to take on the Titans. He was asked in his press conference this week about facing his former team. And, you know, he gave the PC answer, business as usual. But you could see a little bit of a smirk there on Mike Brable's face. And, you know, it is awkward when you run into an X because Tyler talked about, you know, all this girlfriend talk before. When you run into an X, you want to show them what they're missing. and that's what it seems like Mike Brable is going to try to set out to do this weekend.
Starting point is 00:50:07 What are you hoping to see from the Titans, aside from, I guess, just the Mike Brable reception and what, you know, that whole storyline, what are you hoping just to see this Sunday when a week, there's a lot of chaos going around the organization now? First off, there's no pressure on this organization, not one bit because they just fired their coach, admitting the dysfunction was way too much for them to overcome, right? So what do you expect them to do? All of a sudden, put together the roster that comes. could have kept Brian in the head coaching position by going out there and destroying Mike
Starting point is 00:50:37 Vrable's team. It's not going to happen. So all the pressure is squarely on Vrable, you know, this week to beat the team that fired him after they just fired his replacement. Now, of course, he's not going to say, man, I can't wait to get to Tennessee and really stop a mud hole in their butt because it's not what he's going to say. He's not going to make it about him. It's just that that's just not the way that Mike Brable gets down, right?
Starting point is 00:50:59 But at the end of the day, he knows he wants to come in here. and show the Titans fan base exactly what they're missing. Because think about it. His culture has Drake May throwing 10 touchdowns and two picks. They're four and two second in the division. They're doing so many things that have turned that organization around in a short period of time. He's already showing his effectiveness. And he's saying just like we said about AJ, just like we said about Derek Henry,
Starting point is 00:51:27 just like we said about Mike Vrable now, look what the Titans had and weren't able to make good with what that potential was. So this team is not supposed to go in there and all of a sudden turn things around, what? 78 hours after they fire Brian Callahan and also put together the type of team that can beat a team that's competing right now within their own division.
Starting point is 00:51:50 It just ain't going to happen. Yeah, I'm with you. They're in a tough spot, but nobody expects the Titans to win this game now. Like you said, Brad, you're all over it. The expectations are so low after you fire your coach the Patriots are actually a good team the Titans have dropped their expectations and that's why
Starting point is 00:52:06 I did some content a couple of weeks ago saying that it makes sense that the Titans would do it right now before the Mike Vrable game you know what I mean but I just think that the Patriots are a good team the Titans are a terrible team Vrable as you just said like he's not going to say publicly how he feels he knows better than that he plays the media game fantastically he knows exactly what not to say and exactly what to say and how to say it and Julian you're right you saw that smirk on
Starting point is 00:52:31 his face as he was answering. He said, uh, is it interesting? Yes. Is it important? Probably not was, was the quote that he went with there, but you could see the glimmer in his eye. You know, he wants to go in there and win by 40. And I think he very well may be. So that, that's really my thoughts on that. There's
Starting point is 00:52:47 nothing the Titans can do to prevent that from happening, in my opinion. And if they are able to win, like they're going to look like gold, you know what I mean? So they're really in a position where there's no pressure on the Titans. There's all the pressure on the Patriots, as Brad was talking about. Think about this real quick. Julian.
Starting point is 00:53:03 What if Mike McCoy in his first game as interim coach beats Mike Vrable? What would the national narrative be about the Patriots and about Vrable? They cannot lose to this team. Yeah, you can't. You cannot lose to a team that that luckily won one game this year by the hair of their chin-in-chin, one that they didn't
Starting point is 00:53:25 deserve to win because of the previous first half they had, right? And all of a sudden, they put together the type of effort that beats a team you've got to ask yourself what the hell was going on with them why they couldn't do that before they fired brian callahan so at the end of the day if mike mccoy and the titans beat the patriots coming in this weekend especially with all the minutia that comes along with this game the former head coach that was fired from here the way that this team has been turned around under bright variable's culture and they come in here and lay an egg stop it already man the national media will be all over that is to what the hell is going on with Mike Vrable coming to lose to a dysfunctional team like the Titans. I think there's only one person. There's only one person who is more worried about the Titans winning this weekend than Mike Vrable. And it's Brian Callahan.
Starting point is 00:54:14 If the Titans win and beat the Patriots, the only person who's going to be more mad about it is going to be Brian Callahan. But I did want to say, I feel bad. I'm kind of cutting in that I continue to see this question in the chat from Sean asking about Josh Grizzard, the offensive coordinator from the temple. Bay Buccaneers. I just want to say that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense has been good for years now, so it's hard to give Grizzard a bunch of credit for that when those guys have played together
Starting point is 00:54:40 for so long, and he would be in the same boat as a Joe Brady where he has no experience being a head coach, and that would be a major risk for the Titans. So he put the question in there a million times. I want to get your question answered there, Sean. But just, I mean, again, Brian Callahan's the only guy who should be more worried about the Titans winning this week than Mike Vrable. it would immediately prove that, you know, a lot of this had to do with him. We were talking about it on text last night, the timing of it, Tyler.
Starting point is 00:55:08 I mean, if you're Amy Adams-strunk, you don't want to fire the coach after you lose to the ex-coach and make it seem like it was impulse decision. You know what I mean? What kind of reaction or reception? Because we talked about this weeks and weeks ago. What kind of reception do you think Mike Brable is going to get? Because he's coming in as a team that's, you know, first place in their division to his old team who didn't figure it out with his replacement and you have a fan base kind of in shambles right
Starting point is 00:55:33 now what what reception reaction you think he's going to get are they going to boo him they're going to cheer him no if they if they if they if they gave mike variable a standing ovation i wouldn't be surprised sure right but you've got also remember the half those people that will be cheering for him are the ones that were calling for his job when they went six and eleven this last last year here into the sea. So while they're applauding the success of him having left from the Titans, you know, they ultimately, you know, there might be a level of endearment just because he won some games here because he was coached of the year here at some point in time because he'd been to the playoffs with this team at some point. But the reality is, you know, he's the opponent
Starting point is 00:56:16 coming in here and they're not going to be too affectionate about him other than he's being, you know, at least he's going to be able to talk with some players that he coach, you're going to be talk with some staff that he was a part of. He understands how the building works because he coached here for a long time, so they'll remember him. Yeah, I think one thing we also have to consider here is that 60 to 65% in the stadium
Starting point is 00:56:40 is going to be Patriots fans. So, of course, of course they're going to cheer. They're cheering their coach. Like, I went to the Green Bay Packers game last year in week three where Malik Willis came back in one, and I told myself, until this football team proves it, I will never spend another dollar to go watch them play in person because that was a Packers game.
Starting point is 00:57:00 My dad's a big Packers fan. The Go! Pat, go. It was a Packers home game in there. So it is going to be a Patriots home game and the Titans fans who are there are probably going to cheer for Vrabel anyways. So there's no chance that it's going to be anything but good praise for Mike Vrable when he comes into the stadium.
Starting point is 00:57:20 No chance. Last question for we go, you guys. Zach Carpenter says, how do you think the players are responding to the firing right now? Will they play harder, or do you think emotions can take over? Now, a lot of times we do see a jumpstart kind of game after a coach gets fired. But how do you think that locker room is feeling right now since they haven't opened up the locker room? The guys are barely back in the office this week. Here's an analogy.
Starting point is 00:57:46 They're all on one of those gray line buses, the entire team, right? the driver of the bus just got thrown out the door that bus is just now with nobody behind the steering wheel just going the guy that grabs the steering wheel and can confidently drive that bus that's what they're waiting to see who's going to pick up the steering wheel you know what's saying who's going to steer this bus and navigate it through all the peril through all the craziness through the traffic that's in front of us to get us where we need to get safely that's what they're waiting to see that's what they're waiting to see. because at the end of the day, they're just sitting on the bus because none of them are coaches. None of them are putting this team in a position that it needs to be to develop and move forward as a winning program. That's the powers that be that put coaches in place that help them develop and be prepared for the next week. Their job is to go out there and play. All the other stuff, they're not in control of. So they want to see who's grabbing this damn steering wheel and getting us through traffic to where we can get where we need to be?
Starting point is 00:58:50 or are we stuck in traffic sitting behind everything else that has stopped us our momentum, or have we just crashed this damn thing off the road and aren't even moving? I think it depends on how they felt about Brian Callahan before. I think if in the locker room, they didn't trust Brian Callahan, if the players didn't like him,
Starting point is 00:59:11 they didn't buy into him, they knew he wasn't the guy, then I think they're probably relieved right now and hopeful that, hey, we knew this guy couldn't do the job and now he's gone. Maybe we could start to get on track. So there's probably relief in there If they didn't believe in Brian Callahan
Starting point is 00:59:24 If the guys did believe in Brian Callahan They're probably frustrated They're probably disappointed We're losing And this coach that we actually liked and wanted to play for had to take the blame for you know And like Brad talks about
Starting point is 00:59:37 Brad is always putting the emphasis on the player You got to play better And that's how players need to think They can't be blaming their coach for everything They got to worry about them Be a finger point or not a thumb point Or be a thumb point or not a finger pointer
Starting point is 00:59:49 You know what I mean? But if they didn't want to play for Brian Callahan anymore, there's probably relief, and we will see a little bit of bump and performance from the team. But we can't truly know, and we're never going to truly know, at least not probably for a couple of years, maybe sometimes this stuff leaks out afterwards.
Starting point is 01:00:04 But we're never going to truly know how the locker room feels about Brian Callahan. And if they didn't like him and they didn't believe and they didn't trust him and didn't want him driving the bus, there's probably some relief that he's gone now. And okay, we knew that guy wasn't it. It was hard to get up to play for him when we knew he wasn't the one. So they'll probably play better
Starting point is 01:00:22 if they didn't like Brian Callahan. If they did like Brian Callahan, they'll probably play worse. All right, let me ask you this. What did Jeffrey Simmons' comments mean to you when he said they had the worst week of practice? Who was he talking to? Was he talking to his teammates?
Starting point is 01:00:35 His linemates? When he's talking to the offense? No, he was talking collectively about how things are going. We had the worst week of practice. After we got our first win of the season, that to me doesn't make sense. it's almost mind-blowing because when you got that one win,
Starting point is 01:00:52 it said that there's hope. There's hope that you can understand your shortcomings and fix them. But he spoke directly to the powers that be when he said, we had the worst week of practice because what he wants to see is change in how this thing is run Wednesday through Saturday before you put that crap on the field on Sunday. And he said, I've seen what it's like to stack wins in the NFL. He is literally saying, hey, our previous coach,
Starting point is 01:01:19 had us ready to go, had good weeks of practice, held us accountable when we weren't playing well. The article that came out in the athletic this morning that said that Jeffrey Simmons stopped practice at one point and told J.C. Latham, you are playing like crap. This is unacceptable how you're playing right now. That is as big of an indictment on Brian Callahan as possible. It seems like Callahan didn't have the Cajones to really get on these dudes when they weren't holding up to a standard. and Jeffrey Simmons knows what a good standard actually looks like. Nobody else on the team does. He does.
Starting point is 01:01:52 So he can say, this ain't good enough. And for Simmons to have to stop practice to tell an offensive lineman he ain't getting the job done, the coaches should have been able to stop it and fix it way before that ever happened. Real quick, Julian. One thing that just hit me, Brian was only in control of half the team.
Starting point is 01:02:11 And that was the half that he was responsible for. I don't think he had any sort of relationship with Denar Wilson's guys. I don't think he felt even comfortable going into the defensive line position meeting room and saying, hey, fellas, what's going on? You know, how can I make your job better? How can I do this? How can I do that? I don't think he had a relationship with the secondary.
Starting point is 01:02:29 I don't think he had a relationship with the linebacking court. I think that Brian was good at what Brian does in his own vertical, working with the offense and trying to develop the quarterback. At the end of the day, a head coach is responsible for what? Everything. The whole team. Everything. And if you don't have a relationship with both sides of the third,
Starting point is 01:02:46 football, you're not a hit coach. We'll see if the Titans can block out the noise and show some sort of competitive fire on Sunday against the Patriots. That one kicks off at noon central time at Nissan Stadium. We wanted to thank you guys for joining us. Make sure to continue to like, comment, subscribe on the Lockdown Titans podcast with Tyler Rowland every single day and then here on the Titans squad show with the three of us twice a week. Thank you guys for joining us. We'll see you guys on game day. Thank you. Thank you.

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