Stephen A. Smith strongly defends Brian Callahan on national TV about Titans poor on-field product
“We all know that the real problem with the Titans is that they don’t have a quarterback”
On Wednesday, Tennessee Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan ranted at the podium about the idea that his team is "soft". The moment went viral, and was a topic of discussion on a variety of shows Thursday morning.
One show that spoke about his passionate answer was ESPN's First Take. Host Stephen A. Smith was a fan of the way Callahan defended his team:
"He would know, and he should defend his team. We all know that the real problem with the Titans is that they don't have a quarterback. You all know this… And I judge this, Dan (Orlovsky), you know, obviously from a football analytical perspective, I'll leave that to you. But I remember seeing coaches. I've never seen coaches go up to an opposing coach after a win and hug the losing coach and hold on to them as long and as much as they hold on to Brian Callahan. It's you know, they're saying to him, 'man, as we know, this ain't you. It ain't you. You ain't got a quarterback. It's not your fault' because he hasn't really had a chance to coach his team. I love his personality. I love the way that he holds guys accountable. You look at them, they do play hard."
The question about the Titans being "soft" wasn't in reference to any individual person, but Smith was critical of anybody who says this kind of thing about the Titans. And his advice to Callahan and Titans players is to now go out there and back up their words:
"I don't think anybody in the media should be doing that. But the way you disprove what people are saying is you make sure your team goes out there and continues to show that in spite of the disability they have at the quarterback position. Yeah, that everything else is taken care of."
Smith's cohost Dan Orlovsky spoke up as well to defend Callahan's anger and the toughness of the Titans this year.
"So one, anybody who knows football and that watches the tape and watches this team play knows that whatever or whoever called this team soft is completely ridiculous and has no idea what they're talking about. Two, I know Brian Callahan. There's nothing soft about Cally. His dad is one of the great offensive line coaches in the history of the NFL. You don't become that being soft. He's cut from the same cloth as his father. Their defensive coordinator, Dennard Wilson, is from Baltimore. He's from Philly. Like he coached at those places… They're not soft; they're not good. It's a bad football team, but they play hard."
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The Titans Head Coach takes serious issue with the idea his team is “soft”.
