NASHVILLE — New head coach Brian Callahan has been hard at work hiring the staff that will lead the Tennessee Titans into the future. Callahan still has plenty of positions to fill out, but the primary pieces are in place.

Tennessee will feature a first-time head coach, first-time offensive coordinator and first-time defensive coordinator on the sidelines next season.

Click here to accept Marketing cookies and load this content

Callahan will call plays for the Titans offense, which will be a first for him, too. The team has not officially announced the hires of OC Nick Holz, DC Dennard Wilson or any of the other individuals that they have brought in under Callahan since his introductory press conference on Jan. 25. What we do know is that the front-facing inexperience will have plenty of support to lean on in their first year on the job.

"Not a big one at all," said Callahan on the transition from non play-calling coordinator to play-calling head coach. "The way we've worked in Cincinnati, very collaborative. I've been with Zac (Taylor) for five years. Working with him as the primary play caller and me as the offensive coordinator. I feel really great about the process. Part of that is bringing in great people to help me."

Callahan has done just that in the days since.

While he, Holz, and Wilson will be in their new roles for the first time, Callahan will have plenty of NFL experience at his back. His father, Bill, will be in his 44th year as a coach and 23rd in the pros. Bill will have plenty of guidance for Brian when he starts 2024 as Tennessee's offensive line coach, having served as a head coach himself at both the college and pro levels, including taking the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII.

New receivers coach Tyke Tolbert brings more veteran know-how to the staff and has been working with wide outs in the league since 2003. 

Defensive backs coach Steve Jackson played in Super Bowl XXIV for the Titans and is in his second stint with the franchise as a coach after serving as an assistant secondary coach for from 2016-2017. Linebackers coach Frank Bush has a similar story, spending two previous stints with the club as the Oilers (1993-1994) and again as the Titans (2011-2012). Callahan, already a football lifer, will have plenty of knowledge bases to pull from.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I was learning a lot about leadership at 14 years old," Callahan said. "I was sitting in Jon Gruden's quarterback meetings, and I was just more in awe of the players there and listening to Jon talk. But I reflect back on those moments a lot, and there's things that you learn about how people handle it, how they speak, that you hopefully take bits and pieces of. It's just been a lifelong journey of doing that. And so, I can't point to anything specific necessarily, but it certainly helped me be around this game for a long time. I feel like I don't really know any other way or any way of life other than football."

In his first year in Tennessee, Callahan will need all the help he can get.

Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.