The Tennessee Titans have made the NFL’s first midseason coaching change of 2025, firing head coach Brian Callahan on Monday after a disappointing 1-5 start to his second season. The move comes just a day after a 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, which marked another low point in an already turbulent year.
Callahan, 41, finishes his brief and underwhelming tenure in Tennessee with a 4-19 overall record. His stint began with a 3-14 campaign in 2024, which landed the team the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Titans selected quarterback Cam Ward, who was thrust into the spotlight as the starter in Callahan’s second season.
However, the offense never clicked, producing just 83 total points through six games, the fewest by the franchise at that point in a season since 1985, according to ESPN Research.
In a postgame interview after Sunday’s loss, Callahan didn’t shy away from criticism and even pointed fingers at his rookie QB, “We all gotta be better — Cam’s a part of that too. Cam’s gotta play better football as well. We gotta coach better, we gotta play better, all those things.”
Frustration had been building for weeks. During a Week 3 blowout loss to the Colts at home, fans booed the Titans heading into halftime and chanted “Fire Callahan” throughout the second half. The offense hit rock bottom in Week 4, suffering a 26-0 shutout loss to the winless Houston Texans, in which the Titans failed to reach the red zone once.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward didn’t hold back postgame either, telling reporters, “If we keeping it a buck right now, we’re ass.”
Statement From Titans Leadership
Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker issued a statement Monday confirming the decision and acknowledging the difficulty of firing a coach so early in the team’s rebuilding process:
“These decisions are never easy, and they become more difficult when they involve people of great character. While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth. Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”
The team has not yet named an interim head coach.
