Someone tag Bengal brehs we need intel
Hot Chicken & Cold Shoulders [From Nashville to Cally] - Tennessee Titans 2024 Season Thread
- Thread starter Trav
- Start date
I've was on Bengals boards earlier and half of em seem to be lowkey hatin'/salty saying that he isn't responsible for much and/or had some habits they didn't like & the other half give him props for holding it down with Browning after Joe went out and admit they don't know the day to day ops fr. So they know prob just as much as us lol. This shyt is mostly a crapshoot, especially for a mf like him who doesn't have a super ton of history besides being around the game vis a vis his pops.
I like the hire tho. Offensive minded (even tho that wasn't a deal breaker for me). All of history goes back to QB coaching or offensive quality assistant so one less thing to worry about like we had to with Mariota, Tanny with revolving door of OC's and their systems/terminology cuz he gon' determine that. I'm sure he gon bring his pops for the Oline which is gonna be a big help or maybe even bring Munchak back whon expressed interest. As always, u only as good as your staff so who he pick for OC and DC gonna tell us more too.
@JP_614 @duncanthetall @JordanwiththeWiz @Edub @Natiboi What say all? I know yall prolly more plugged in to the beat more than me.
Adebisi_Said
Truth is Power
JP_614
Superstar
To be honest this is my first time hearing our OC would be a HC coaching candidate. I thought Lou our DC would be first. I will tel you this he’s great at scheming and our run game has always been good. So I think he could really help Henry. Also if he’s going I could see you guys throwing Tee a big bag to come with him that’s his hometown. Give your young QB a good weapon plus familiarity.
We can do this game wit hella people, lol. Mfs acting like Vrabel called plays on defense or offense...Or Dan Campbell called plays as a TE coach. Or Harbaugh as a Special Teams coach. New regime and Vrabel had a diff of opinion on the future, it is what is is.
Sounds like he might be a QB whisperer, which is what we need for Willie. Not worried about the play calling. Matt LaFleur never called plays and he got GB to the playoffs.
That's the general consensus that I'm seeing is that Zac still calls the plays on Sun but Callahan is heavily involved in the design & construction of it all during game prep for the week and can still influence stuff on game day. And all of the players seem to luv him as well and he keeps a good line on what's going on in the locker room.
I honestly never really knew just how much input he had into play calling or whatever and that’s the truth for the vast majority of Bengals fans, so don’t listen to their bullshyt lol. I know Taylor calls the plays, which I’ve always felt pretty meh about. But people seem to have a lot of good things to say about the guy. Who knows how it’ll turn out. Guessing he’ll definitely want to call his own plays for once so get ready for a learning experience for him.
Would be nice for y’all if you snagged his pops, but he’s got a pretty nice thing going on in Cleveland right now.
Yea, but you know fam is fam and he prolly gonna wanna set his son up to best of his ability to succeed like he couldn't as a HC . Or maybe he'll tell him to stand on his own 2 and get it out the mud lol. Like I said though, this shyt is all a crapshoot and also circumstance with the GM & Coach being able to work lockstep in cohesion and execute a vision together and clearly Ran feel like this is his guy. And clearly you can't go wrong with the Shanahan/McVay tree right now.
Article
When weather threw travel out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport into chaos on Sunday, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan had to start weighing options.
Three head coach interviews in three days were on the horizon. This was the kind of week a coach works his entire life for the opportunity to experience. Yet, there he was like any of us have been throughout our lives, trying to adjust on the fly to his flight being canceled.
He was fully prepared to hop in a car and drive the four hours from Cincinnati to Nashville. Why not? Just get there.
Then, the Tennessee Titans sent the plane.
Would Titans’ brass send the plane for any stranded candidate? Maybe. That they sent one for Callahan, one of just three candidates to receive a second interview after their first wave of sessions on video calls, landed a pretty clear message of interest.
Just over 24 hours later there was no gray area left in the message. The Titans didn’t let Callahan leave the building for interviews Tuesday in Carolina and Wednesday in Atlanta. He was the target. Had been for a while. Welcome to Tennessee.
Callahan quickly emerged as one of the hottest candidates in this cycle, made apparent by his three-day itinerary.
In the age of the Zoom video interview round, many coaches get face time with potential employers, but the real eye test comes from those being flown in. Of Callahan’s four Zoom interviews, only the Chargers, currently big-game hunting Jim Harbaugh, didn’t give Callahan a second step.
It all makes sense. The only aspect of Callahan’s case that doesn’t make sense is that he had not been closer to a job before this one. He’s served as the right-hand man to Zac Taylor for every step of one of the most improbable franchise turnarounds in recent NFL history. He’s drawn praise working with high-profile quarterbacks ranging from Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr to Joe Burrow. His offense has proven malleable and evolved through multiple deep playoff runs.
Burrow’s greatness has actually hurt the case of Bengals offensive assistants in recent years, giving an aura that the success was all to his credit. Yet, understanding how to work and build around a star quarterback is just as much a skill as finding one. Callahan and Taylor have done it as well as any in recent history.
“Not only Joe but our entire offense,” Taylor said late in the season. “He has helped develop every position we have. He’s invaluable. There’s really not enough things I can say about him. If somebody just followed us for a week and saw, it would be, ‘Oh, no wonder everybody is so high on Brian.’ It’s just a matter of opportunity and getting to talk to the right people. I have no doubt he will be successful.”
Tennessee brass turned out to be the right people. They desperately need to figure out the quarterback position. They play in a division where Shane Steichen, an assistant for the Eagles Super Bowl run, excelled in Indianapolis and DeMeco Ryans, a defensive assistant for the 49ers’ Super Bowl run, proved a strong hire.
Both of those candidates called plays, but Taylor, who also didn’t call plays in the NFL before being hired by the Bengals, doesn’t buy the narrative that it matters one bit.
“That’s just people that don’t actually know,” Taylor said. “He needs to call plays? Why? Nobody can say that, it’s something people parrot out there. He’s been the coordinator here for five years. He coordinates everything having to do with it. He establishes the whole structure of our offense. On game day, he and I are in constant communication. That is calling plays. That is establishing an offense. He knows everything I go through on a daily basis as a head coach. He and I both. He’s as prepared as anybody can be prepared for it.”
The Bengals play at the Titans this year and it will be interesting to see the direction he takes their franchise. And this is about far more than quarterback play and potentially coaching with his father, great OL coach Bill Callahan.
I’ll explain with one nugget about Callahan I’ll never forget.
During the ugly first year in Cincinnati with the Bengals winless midway through the season, we were engaging in a conversation about culture, what it looks like and how to establish it among many other big-picture topics. He brought up a speech made by former Cubs general manager Theo Epstein at the 2017 Yale College Class Day. Epstein talked about the difference between winning and losing always being connected to having the type of people built to respond in adverse moments. Epstein used the story of Jason Heyward gathering the Cubs during the rain delay of Game 7 in the 2016 World Series. It’s about how understanding leadership and truly valuing those traits makes the difference.
I immediately went back and watched it and Callahan’s points of the conversation all clicked. It was much easier to understand the vision — one that would be proven right many times over in the Cincinnati building process, including five times in the postseason.
Mostly, it always stuck with me as a prime example that this guy sees football way beyond his specialty of quarterback play. That’s also why it would make perfect sense the Titans had heard enough Monday night.
Three head coach interviews in three days were on the horizon. This was the kind of week a coach works his entire life for the opportunity to experience. Yet, there he was like any of us have been throughout our lives, trying to adjust on the fly to his flight being canceled.
He was fully prepared to hop in a car and drive the four hours from Cincinnati to Nashville. Why not? Just get there.
Then, the Tennessee Titans sent the plane.
Would Titans’ brass send the plane for any stranded candidate? Maybe. That they sent one for Callahan, one of just three candidates to receive a second interview after their first wave of sessions on video calls, landed a pretty clear message of interest.
Just over 24 hours later there was no gray area left in the message. The Titans didn’t let Callahan leave the building for interviews Tuesday in Carolina and Wednesday in Atlanta. He was the target. Had been for a while. Welcome to Tennessee.
Callahan quickly emerged as one of the hottest candidates in this cycle, made apparent by his three-day itinerary.
In the age of the Zoom video interview round, many coaches get face time with potential employers, but the real eye test comes from those being flown in. Of Callahan’s four Zoom interviews, only the Chargers, currently big-game hunting Jim Harbaugh, didn’t give Callahan a second step.
It all makes sense. The only aspect of Callahan’s case that doesn’t make sense is that he had not been closer to a job before this one. He’s served as the right-hand man to Zac Taylor for every step of one of the most improbable franchise turnarounds in recent NFL history. He’s drawn praise working with high-profile quarterbacks ranging from Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr to Joe Burrow. His offense has proven malleable and evolved through multiple deep playoff runs.
Burrow’s greatness has actually hurt the case of Bengals offensive assistants in recent years, giving an aura that the success was all to his credit. Yet, understanding how to work and build around a star quarterback is just as much a skill as finding one. Callahan and Taylor have done it as well as any in recent history.
“Not only Joe but our entire offense,” Taylor said late in the season. “He has helped develop every position we have. He’s invaluable. There’s really not enough things I can say about him. If somebody just followed us for a week and saw, it would be, ‘Oh, no wonder everybody is so high on Brian.’ It’s just a matter of opportunity and getting to talk to the right people. I have no doubt he will be successful.”
Tennessee brass turned out to be the right people. They desperately need to figure out the quarterback position. They play in a division where Shane Steichen, an assistant for the Eagles Super Bowl run, excelled in Indianapolis and DeMeco Ryans, a defensive assistant for the 49ers’ Super Bowl run, proved a strong hire.
Both of those candidates called plays, but Taylor, who also didn’t call plays in the NFL before being hired by the Bengals, doesn’t buy the narrative that it matters one bit.
“That’s just people that don’t actually know,” Taylor said. “He needs to call plays? Why? Nobody can say that, it’s something people parrot out there. He’s been the coordinator here for five years. He coordinates everything having to do with it. He establishes the whole structure of our offense. On game day, he and I are in constant communication. That is calling plays. That is establishing an offense. He knows everything I go through on a daily basis as a head coach. He and I both. He’s as prepared as anybody can be prepared for it.”
The Bengals play at the Titans this year and it will be interesting to see the direction he takes their franchise. And this is about far more than quarterback play and potentially coaching with his father, great OL coach Bill Callahan.
I’ll explain with one nugget about Callahan I’ll never forget.
During the ugly first year in Cincinnati with the Bengals winless midway through the season, we were engaging in a conversation about culture, what it looks like and how to establish it among many other big-picture topics. He brought up a speech made by former Cubs general manager Theo Epstein at the 2017 Yale College Class Day. Epstein talked about the difference between winning and losing always being connected to having the type of people built to respond in adverse moments. Epstein used the story of Jason Heyward gathering the Cubs during the rain delay of Game 7 in the 2016 World Series. It’s about how understanding leadership and truly valuing those traits makes the difference.
I immediately went back and watched it and Callahan’s points of the conversation all clicked. It was much easier to understand the vision — one that would be proven right many times over in the Cincinnati building process, including five times in the postseason.
Mostly, it always stuck with me as a prime example that this guy sees football way beyond his specialty of quarterback play. That’s also why it would make perfect sense the Titans had heard enough Monday night.
The rest was more so about the implications for Cincy.
How we feel?? @murksiderock @bxrfan @RiffRaff @rbksNgirbauds @The Villain @Keengcong @LinusCaldwell @Leavingtheecstasy @Hamsterdam921 @Him Duncan
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Monday was a good day for the Tennessee Titans. Very few qualify since the very bad day that started this franchise in the wrong direction.
That was Jan. 22, 2022, when the AFC No. 1 seed Titans, led by soon-to-be-named NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel, welcoming back Derrick Henry from injury, were stunned 19-16 at Nissan Stadium by the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Bengals had Joe Burrow quarterbacking, Zac Taylor coaching and Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill giving them the ball three times. The Titans have all but disintegrated since.
Imagine being told then that in two years to the day, the Bengals offensive coordinator would be hired to replace the fired Vrabel as Titans head coach. Would you have believed it? Could you have done the math on a plunge that dramatic? Could you have named the Bengals offensive coordinator?
It’s Brian Callahan and he’s the guy who has agreed to lead the Titans now, and that made Monday a good day for a franchise that has majored in depressing ones over two years. Not because a single win is assured under Callahan, but because he has followed a path similar to several of the most successful coaches in the NFL today. Because maximizing quarterback Will Levis had to be central to the process of replacing Vrabel, and Callahan’s history with quarterbacks in this league is strong.
And because everyone can move on now from two years of losing great players, choosing bad ones, watching most of them get injured, making enormous long-term commitments, going back on them in short order, and the general drama that can accompany 13 wins and 21 losses in two seasons. The Titans had enough of it.
Even if you were happy about controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk’s firing of Vrabel, and GM Jon Robinson a year earlier, you had to question coming to both conclusions so soon after both got extensions. You had to wonder what it meant moving forward.
Now you have to hope ownership moves to the place owners in this league can best serve their teams — the heck out of the way. And that Strunk’s instincts were strong in selecting Carthon as GM a year ago, and that the search he led for head coach turns out a success and a harbinger of player acquisitions to come.
After an awkward year of trying to make it work with Vrabel, Carthon is better positioned to make “collaboration” more than a buzzword at Titans headquarters. He and Callahan need to make it a reality and overhaul this roster quickly. That’s the only way Callahan, 39, will continue the trend of young offensive coaches — especially coaches linked in any way to Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay — succeeding as head coaches in the NFL.
Callahan’s connection is through Taylor, who got the Bengals job in 2019 after one season as Jared Goff’s quarterbacks coach with McVay and the Los Angeles Rams. That one season ended in the Super Bowl, and at that point, NFL teams would have given a distant McVay cousin a quality control job at least, so Taylor took over in Cincinnati at age 35. He’s been terrific. And Callahan, then Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach, has been with him the whole time.
Callahan’s reputation around the league is strong. His interviews are illuminating. He’ll crush his intro presser. But there’s always some haze around exactly how responsible an OC who works for a play-calling head coach is for that offense. Of course, people wondered the same thing about Mike McDaniel when he left Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers for the Miami Dolphins two years ago, and that’s worked out well.
That’s pretty much how things are going. The Green Bay Packers hired McVay/Shanahan best bud Matt LaFleur after his one season of so-so offensive coordinating under Vrabel with the Titans, and all he’s done is win big, navigate the Aaron Rodgers experience without falling into a darkness retreat and turn Jordan Love into one of the exciting young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Kevin O’Connell (McVay’s OC with the Rams, 2020-21) has been good with the Minnesota Vikings. Two young offensive coaches who aren’t part of the tree, Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles) and Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns), have established themselves (late-season Philly collapse notwithstanding). The offensive hotshot doesn’t always succeed. Kliff Kingsbury didn’t work in Arizona. Josh McDaniels keeps not working. Vrabel disciple and LaFleur successor Arthur Smith couldn’t get it done in Atlanta.
But recent evidence supports going offensive coach, in part because if you don’t and your defensive head coach has a good OC, he’s about to lose that OC. It’s especially effective with the McVay/Shanahan seal of inspection, and especially important in the event of a young quarterback.
The defensive coaches in the McVay/Shanahan family haven’t been as successful — Brandon Staley fired and Robert Saleh counting on a Rodgers revival with the Jets next season — but DeMeco Ryans sure looks good after one season in Houston.
He was Shanahan’s defensive coordinator before the Texans hired him, taking over a franchise that was at the time well beyond the current-day Titans in terms of drama, embarrassment, upheaval and general aimlessness. That looked like the worst job in the NFL. Add a good coach, add a good quarterback, add several key players to a young roster and suddenly you’ve got an AFC South team with a promising future.
That has to be galling to Titans fans. Also, comforting. This league is designed for everyone to be pretty good, and a smart choice among a pool of qualified football people can clean up any billionaire’s spilled oil.
Callahan isn’t just here as a branch on the Taylor tree. He worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr before Burrow. His early days in the league came in Denver under Shanahan pupil Gary Kubiak. Mike Shanahan, that is — Kyle’s father and the architect of the modern West Coast offense. The guy who had a staff in Washington 10 years ago that included his son as OC, McVay, LaFleur, McDaniel, Raheem Morris and Bobby Slowik.
Callahan’s father, Bill, got to the Super Bowl as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and would seem a prime candidate to leave his post as Browns offensive line coach and do the same thing for the Titans if that can be arranged contractually. Carolina Panthers OC Thomas Brown, a McVay pupil and a candidate for the job Callahan just got, is a natural candidate to be his offensive coordinator. So is Kentucky OC Liam Coen, who helped Levis turn into an NFL prospect in 2021.
The possibilities are exciting. They are much more fun to talk about than the communication gaps that helped end Vrabel’s tenure. Monday, the day Callahan agreed to take the next shot, was a good day in Nashville. Now Callahan is in charge of making it so April 28, 2023 — the day the Titans drafted Levis — is remembered the same way.
That was Jan. 22, 2022, when the AFC No. 1 seed Titans, led by soon-to-be-named NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel, welcoming back Derrick Henry from injury, were stunned 19-16 at Nissan Stadium by the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Bengals had Joe Burrow quarterbacking, Zac Taylor coaching and Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill giving them the ball three times. The Titans have all but disintegrated since.
Imagine being told then that in two years to the day, the Bengals offensive coordinator would be hired to replace the fired Vrabel as Titans head coach. Would you have believed it? Could you have done the math on a plunge that dramatic? Could you have named the Bengals offensive coordinator?
It’s Brian Callahan and he’s the guy who has agreed to lead the Titans now, and that made Monday a good day for a franchise that has majored in depressing ones over two years. Not because a single win is assured under Callahan, but because he has followed a path similar to several of the most successful coaches in the NFL today. Because maximizing quarterback Will Levis had to be central to the process of replacing Vrabel, and Callahan’s history with quarterbacks in this league is strong.
And because everyone can move on now from two years of losing great players, choosing bad ones, watching most of them get injured, making enormous long-term commitments, going back on them in short order, and the general drama that can accompany 13 wins and 21 losses in two seasons. The Titans had enough of it.
Even if you were happy about controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk’s firing of Vrabel, and GM Jon Robinson a year earlier, you had to question coming to both conclusions so soon after both got extensions. You had to wonder what it meant moving forward.
Now you have to hope ownership moves to the place owners in this league can best serve their teams — the heck out of the way. And that Strunk’s instincts were strong in selecting Carthon as GM a year ago, and that the search he led for head coach turns out a success and a harbinger of player acquisitions to come.
After an awkward year of trying to make it work with Vrabel, Carthon is better positioned to make “collaboration” more than a buzzword at Titans headquarters. He and Callahan need to make it a reality and overhaul this roster quickly. That’s the only way Callahan, 39, will continue the trend of young offensive coaches — especially coaches linked in any way to Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay — succeeding as head coaches in the NFL.
Callahan’s connection is through Taylor, who got the Bengals job in 2019 after one season as Jared Goff’s quarterbacks coach with McVay and the Los Angeles Rams. That one season ended in the Super Bowl, and at that point, NFL teams would have given a distant McVay cousin a quality control job at least, so Taylor took over in Cincinnati at age 35. He’s been terrific. And Callahan, then Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach, has been with him the whole time.
Callahan’s reputation around the league is strong. His interviews are illuminating. He’ll crush his intro presser. But there’s always some haze around exactly how responsible an OC who works for a play-calling head coach is for that offense. Of course, people wondered the same thing about Mike McDaniel when he left Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers for the Miami Dolphins two years ago, and that’s worked out well.
That’s pretty much how things are going. The Green Bay Packers hired McVay/Shanahan best bud Matt LaFleur after his one season of so-so offensive coordinating under Vrabel with the Titans, and all he’s done is win big, navigate the Aaron Rodgers experience without falling into a darkness retreat and turn Jordan Love into one of the exciting young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Kevin O’Connell (McVay’s OC with the Rams, 2020-21) has been good with the Minnesota Vikings. Two young offensive coaches who aren’t part of the tree, Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles) and Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns), have established themselves (late-season Philly collapse notwithstanding). The offensive hotshot doesn’t always succeed. Kliff Kingsbury didn’t work in Arizona. Josh McDaniels keeps not working. Vrabel disciple and LaFleur successor Arthur Smith couldn’t get it done in Atlanta.
But recent evidence supports going offensive coach, in part because if you don’t and your defensive head coach has a good OC, he’s about to lose that OC. It’s especially effective with the McVay/Shanahan seal of inspection, and especially important in the event of a young quarterback.
The defensive coaches in the McVay/Shanahan family haven’t been as successful — Brandon Staley fired and Robert Saleh counting on a Rodgers revival with the Jets next season — but DeMeco Ryans sure looks good after one season in Houston.
He was Shanahan’s defensive coordinator before the Texans hired him, taking over a franchise that was at the time well beyond the current-day Titans in terms of drama, embarrassment, upheaval and general aimlessness. That looked like the worst job in the NFL. Add a good coach, add a good quarterback, add several key players to a young roster and suddenly you’ve got an AFC South team with a promising future.
That has to be galling to Titans fans. Also, comforting. This league is designed for everyone to be pretty good, and a smart choice among a pool of qualified football people can clean up any billionaire’s spilled oil.
Callahan isn’t just here as a branch on the Taylor tree. He worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr before Burrow. His early days in the league came in Denver under Shanahan pupil Gary Kubiak. Mike Shanahan, that is — Kyle’s father and the architect of the modern West Coast offense. The guy who had a staff in Washington 10 years ago that included his son as OC, McVay, LaFleur, McDaniel, Raheem Morris and Bobby Slowik.
Callahan’s father, Bill, got to the Super Bowl as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and would seem a prime candidate to leave his post as Browns offensive line coach and do the same thing for the Titans if that can be arranged contractually. Carolina Panthers OC Thomas Brown, a McVay pupil and a candidate for the job Callahan just got, is a natural candidate to be his offensive coordinator. So is Kentucky OC Liam Coen, who helped Levis turn into an NFL prospect in 2021.
The possibilities are exciting. They are much more fun to talk about than the communication gaps that helped end Vrabel’s tenure. Monday, the day Callahan agreed to take the next shot, was a good day in Nashville. Now Callahan is in charge of making it so April 28, 2023 — the day the Titans drafted Levis — is remembered the same way.
murksiderock
Superstar
I like the hire, let's see what he about. Kingsbury and a few other "young offensive minds" have failed, but let's see what Callahan has...
The Villain
Superstar
I don’t even know who he is but it fits the direction I am looking for
Hopefully it works
Hopefully it works
Another article...
This one was actually last year when interest was just bubbling but it's a good read:
This one was actually last year when interest was just bubbling but it's a good read:
CINCINNATI — One minute left, and the Bengals and Jaguars are tied at 21.
On second-and-13, Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen calls for a zero blitz. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow checks to a screen pass to tight end C.J. Uzomah — the perfect counter move — and Uzomah goes 25 yards to set up the winning field goal.
Of course, credit for the long gain on the play went to Burrow.
But it also should have gone to Peyton Manning.
From 2012 through 2015, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan worked with Manning in Denver as an assistant in various capacities. It was Manning who influenced Callahan to prepare for every possible pressure and make him understand that the protection plan is the most essential part of any game plan.
“It’s one of the things most deeply ingrained in me from my time with Peyton,” Callahan says, “I spent hours combing through tape for Peyton, finding all the blitzes, drawing them up, presenting them to him. He always wanted answers — what calls to make to get the blitz blocked, what plays to check to, how to make a team pay for blitzing him. (Now) I always want to give Joe as many answers as he needs for what he might encounter.”
Before the game against the Jaguars, Callahan studied Cullen back to his days as a defensive line coach with the Ravens. He suspected a zero blitz might be coming with the game on the line and advised Burrow accordingly,
Callahan’s understanding of exceptional quarterbacks has elevated him and his teams.
“He’s seen a lot of successful quarterbacks and how they worked, and that experience has helped us,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor says.
“The more exposure you can get in this league to players and systems that are successful, the better you are if you are willing to learn,” says Matthew Stafford, another quarterback Callahan has coached. “He’s always finding ways to be a better coach by learning from players as well as coaches.”
The quarterbacks in Callahan’s past tell the story of where he’s been. And they also reveal where he’s going.
Callahan’s father, Bill, who later became head coach of the Raiders and now is the offensive line coach of the Browns, was the Eagles’ offensive line coach in the mid-1990s. As a seventh grader, Brian served as a ball boy for the team during camp. Cunningham asked him to play catch once, and they struck up a relationship.
And then one day Cunningham gave Callahan that figurine, a treasure still.
“What an awesome moment it was to receive that,” Brian says. “I was in awe when I saw him. He was so big. He was a superstar at the time, but he was so nice to me, so gracious.”
Previously, Brian had spent many days around the Wisconsin football team with his brother Danny when Bill was the offensive coordinator. To hear Bill tell it, they were “gym rats.”
But playing catch with Cunningham at Eagles camp and watching how a star quarterback carried himself was something special, and the first of many significant quarterback intersections in his life.
Callahan always had questions.
“Why did the coach call that play against that defense?”
“Why did you throw to this receiver instead of that one?”
“Against this look, should you expect blitz or coverage?”
Gannon was known for being all business, but he admired young Callahan’s curiosity and respectful approach. He gave him pointers about throwing mechanics and footwork, and he especially tried to teach Callahan about the mental part of quarterbacking — the attributes that too often are minimized but were Gannon’s NFL lifeblood. He told him about the importance of toughness, work ethic and preparedness, and explained why amazing throws have less to do with winning games than amazing decisions.
Callahan learned the most by watching Gannon interact with others.
“He was very demanding,” Callahan says of the quarterback who was voted NFL MVP while playing for Callahan’s father in 2002. “He didn’t care. He wanted to win. It was my first time seeing somebody like that where it was, either you do it right, at the level I expect, or I’m kind of done with you. I was in awe of that kind of command. He wasn’t always nice. He was prickly. But he was brilliant.”
This, Callahan thought, is what a quarterback should be like.
In the evenings, Callahan followed his father to the offensive installation meetings. There, he watched head coach Jon Gruden, offensive coordinator Marc Trestman and other coaches install plays for Gannon and the other players. Then, it was Gannon asking questions.
Says Gannon, now an analyst with CBS Sports and NFL Radio, “He soaked it all up.”
Head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy knew they could not win with Tebow in a conventional system, so they decided to incorporate option plays into the offense. This was before the pistol offense became the flavor of the day and zone reads became standard in every playbook. Callahan, the team’s offensive quality control coach at the time, had played in the option at De La Salle High School and coached it at Serra High School, so the other coaches asked for his help designing a run game that fit with Tebow’s skill set.
“We watched all his tape at Florida and tried to figure out how to bring college concepts to the pros,” Callahan says. “We did a bunch of stuff nobody was doing at the time.”
Tebow was unlike any other quarterback, but he helped Callahan learn to work with other quarterbacks.
“The big takeaway was find things players do well and do it,” Callahan says. “We all want to throw it 30 times for 300 yards, but that wasn’t what we had. You have to work around whatever it is they can do. It has nothing to do with the kind of system you want to run. It has everything to do with putting your guys in the best position to be successful.”
On second-and-13, Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen calls for a zero blitz. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow checks to a screen pass to tight end C.J. Uzomah — the perfect counter move — and Uzomah goes 25 yards to set up the winning field goal.
Of course, credit for the long gain on the play went to Burrow.
But it also should have gone to Peyton Manning.
From 2012 through 2015, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan worked with Manning in Denver as an assistant in various capacities. It was Manning who influenced Callahan to prepare for every possible pressure and make him understand that the protection plan is the most essential part of any game plan.
“It’s one of the things most deeply ingrained in me from my time with Peyton,” Callahan says, “I spent hours combing through tape for Peyton, finding all the blitzes, drawing them up, presenting them to him. He always wanted answers — what calls to make to get the blitz blocked, what plays to check to, how to make a team pay for blitzing him. (Now) I always want to give Joe as many answers as he needs for what he might encounter.”
Before the game against the Jaguars, Callahan studied Cullen back to his days as a defensive line coach with the Ravens. He suspected a zero blitz might be coming with the game on the line and advised Burrow accordingly,
Callahan’s understanding of exceptional quarterbacks has elevated him and his teams.
“He’s seen a lot of successful quarterbacks and how they worked, and that experience has helped us,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor says.
“The more exposure you can get in this league to players and systems that are successful, the better you are if you are willing to learn,” says Matthew Stafford, another quarterback Callahan has coached. “He’s always finding ways to be a better coach by learning from players as well as coaches.”
The quarterbacks in Callahan’s past tell the story of where he’s been. And they also reveal where he’s going.
Randall Cunningham
In a closet of a home not far from Paul Brown Stadium, there is a porcelain figurine of Cunningham, depicted as the quarterback of the Eagles. During a move long ago, one of the figurine’s legs was broken. It was glued back together and remains in the box it came in, protected by the original Styrofoam.Callahan’s father, Bill, who later became head coach of the Raiders and now is the offensive line coach of the Browns, was the Eagles’ offensive line coach in the mid-1990s. As a seventh grader, Brian served as a ball boy for the team during camp. Cunningham asked him to play catch once, and they struck up a relationship.
And then one day Cunningham gave Callahan that figurine, a treasure still.
“What an awesome moment it was to receive that,” Brian says. “I was in awe when I saw him. He was so big. He was a superstar at the time, but he was so nice to me, so gracious.”
Previously, Brian had spent many days around the Wisconsin football team with his brother Danny when Bill was the offensive coordinator. To hear Bill tell it, they were “gym rats.”
But playing catch with Cunningham at Eagles camp and watching how a star quarterback carried himself was something special, and the first of many significant quarterback intersections in his life.
Rich Gannon
The Raiders were preparing for a training camp practice in 1998 when Gannon called over Callahan, then a high school freshman who also played quarterback. They chatted as Gannon warmed up. From then on, Gannon talked to him a little every day.Callahan always had questions.
“Why did the coach call that play against that defense?”
“Why did you throw to this receiver instead of that one?”
“Against this look, should you expect blitz or coverage?”
Gannon was known for being all business, but he admired young Callahan’s curiosity and respectful approach. He gave him pointers about throwing mechanics and footwork, and he especially tried to teach Callahan about the mental part of quarterbacking — the attributes that too often are minimized but were Gannon’s NFL lifeblood. He told him about the importance of toughness, work ethic and preparedness, and explained why amazing throws have less to do with winning games than amazing decisions.
Callahan learned the most by watching Gannon interact with others.
“He was very demanding,” Callahan says of the quarterback who was voted NFL MVP while playing for Callahan’s father in 2002. “He didn’t care. He wanted to win. It was my first time seeing somebody like that where it was, either you do it right, at the level I expect, or I’m kind of done with you. I was in awe of that kind of command. He wasn’t always nice. He was prickly. But he was brilliant.”
This, Callahan thought, is what a quarterback should be like.
In the evenings, Callahan followed his father to the offensive installation meetings. There, he watched head coach Jon Gruden, offensive coordinator Marc Trestman and other coaches install plays for Gannon and the other players. Then, it was Gannon asking questions.
Says Gannon, now an analyst with CBS Sports and NFL Radio, “He soaked it all up.”
Tim Tebow
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner was one of the most beloved athletes in the country when he became the starting quarterback of the Broncos in 2011. His biceps were prettier than his passes, but Tebow’s performances were enchanting in a way most football coaches could not understand.Head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy knew they could not win with Tebow in a conventional system, so they decided to incorporate option plays into the offense. This was before the pistol offense became the flavor of the day and zone reads became standard in every playbook. Callahan, the team’s offensive quality control coach at the time, had played in the option at De La Salle High School and coached it at Serra High School, so the other coaches asked for his help designing a run game that fit with Tebow’s skill set.
“We watched all his tape at Florida and tried to figure out how to bring college concepts to the pros,” Callahan says. “We did a bunch of stuff nobody was doing at the time.”
Tebow was unlike any other quarterback, but he helped Callahan learn to work with other quarterbacks.
“The big takeaway was find things players do well and do it,” Callahan says. “We all want to throw it 30 times for 300 yards, but that wasn’t what we had. You have to work around whatever it is they can do. It has nothing to do with the kind of system you want to run. It has everything to do with putting your guys in the best position to be successful.”