Brian Callahan's message to critics: you can shove it where the sun don't shine
The Titans Head Coach takes serious issue with the idea his team is “soft”.
Tennessee Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan took to the podium Wednesday, and the headlining topic of the day was his decision to bench Will Levis for Mason Rudolph indefinitely. But near the end of his availability, he was asked about a relatively popular opinion amongst some fans and media: that his football team is soft, both physically and mentally.
The look on his face when he heard this change of topic was a mix of surprise and digust. "You really wanna get me going today?" he began. His answer was a lengthy one, and for somebody who has a reputation for being calm and measured at the podium, was the most fired-up we've seen the first year coach at a press conference all year.
"Yeah, I think, to be honest with you, I think it's complete and total bull***t. If you want my honest opinion, these guys are tough f**kers, man. They go after it every day. They play hard as hell, and there's at no point, at no point have we ever put on tape at any point this season that this is a soft football team. I can't even wrap my mind around how that would even be a conversation. I mean, just because we don't win games doesn't mean we're soft. These guys play their ass off. They play hard. They play physical."
As the person who asked the question, I feel it's fair to share the reason why I brought it up in the first place. This idea that the Titans are "soft" is a relatively popular and growing one amongst those on the outside looking in at the Titans organization. Callahan coming into this job off the heels of a Mike Vrabel tenure is certainly a part of this discussion, both consciously and unconsciously. Callahan was never going to hold a candle to the toughness brand of Vrabel's time in Tennessee. Whether the actual toughness is all that different, or whether Vrabel's style of toughness was actually always a good thing, is a different discussion entirely.
A subset of fans feel strongly about this, as evidenced by social media, their calls into talk radio stations, or just by talking to enough of them about it. And there are those in media who feel this way too. The timing of this question was a result of an article by my friend Mike Herndon at PaulKuharsky.com that you can read here. In a part of his article, he lays out his argument for why he thinks the Titans are a soft team. I think he's wrong about most everything he wrote in that article, but I know he's far from alone in thinking and feeling the way he does about the situation. So, I gave Callahan the chance to respond. And he did not mince words about what he thinks of people who feel his team is soft:
"You can ask any team that plays against us that when they come off the field, they know they played us. Yeah, that makes me relatively angry that that would be some presumption. That means you just don't watch the s**t. You don't do anything about it that you don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're looking at. So I'm not gonna stand for anybody calling this football team soft. I think that's bulls**t. So if there's opinions out there that feel that way, then they don't know anything about NFL football. So I'd like you to walk in there and call one of these guys soft and see what happens."
But what about some actual examples of how this team isn't soft? Callahan got into one:
"This is not a soft football team at all, mentally or physically. And I think one of the things mentally that's really been impressive on the team is that the way that they keep fighting through the way that this season has gone. They've not shown at any point that they're not up to the task. They come out every day and work. They have, I mean, I'm really, you're gonna really keep me going now. I mean, these guys come out here and they do everything possible to win games. And if there's any assumption anywhere that's outside of this building, again, we don't focus on all those things. But there's no possible explanation to say that this team is soft in any way, shape, or form, mentally or physically. And the way that they go about their work, it's insulting to me, to them, to everyone that works here. So I'm not, no chance ever in hell would I ever admit that to be the case. And neither would anybody in this locker room. So I think you can kind of shove that one right up your ass."
Callahan has three games left this season, and is almost certainly tackling them with Mason Rudolph at the helm. The toughness of his team will be tested, and they have three more opportunities to demonstrate just how not-soft they are.