In today’s instant-gratification world, when it’s easy to engage real time on social media to offer opinions on everything from politics to pop culture, it’s not surprising that Tennessee Titans fans have their knives out.
At 1-5 with a first-year head coach, a struggling quarterback, two first-time coordinators on both sides of the ball and very few positives thus far, suggestions (demands?) for change are abundant.
Certainly, after a 34-10 beatdown in Buffalo Sunday and not much hope for immediate improvement on the horizon, it’s understandable that the fan base is reacting loudly to new coach Brian Callahan’s start. Some are even wishing for the good old days of 2023 when Mike Vrabel was still here playing 3 yards and a cloud of dust football on the way to a 6-11 finish.
Callahan said all the right things when he was hired, promising an explosive passing game that would turn Will Levis into the first franchise quarterback this team has had in a generation.
Let’s just say those promises have not come to fruition during the first six games of the season. And some in the fan base are experiencing buyer’s remorse when it comes to Callahan and his staff.
Careful what you wish for
The truth is this team has been in rut really ever since A.J. Brown was traded on draft day in 2022. The offseason upheaval of going from a run-based offense to one that attempts to throw the football (and supposedly protect the quarterback) was always going to take time, more time than what fans wish to surrender.
Granted, the new administration of Callahan, general manager Ran Carthon and president of football operations Chad Brinker probably oversold how quickly the transformation could take place.
They also dressed things up and tried to fast-forward the rebuilding process by spending big in the free agent market to bring in veterans Calvin Ridley, L’Jarius Sneed and others with enviable NFL resumes.
I can’t blame them for making those moves, given the threadbare roster they inherited failed draft picks and too many injuries in recent years. But, as is often the case of offseason spending sprees, the teams that win March don’t often hoist championship trophies in February.
There’s a reason (perhaps several) why most of the best NFL players never get to free agency. If they do, they have already reached the “buyer beware” stage of their careers.
Often, those players have little left in the tank, and someone else will find that the hard way. Jamal Adams, anyone?
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is already on IR with his second injury as a Titan after missing most of training camp. And what of Ridley, who showed Sunday that not even a quarterback change to Mason Rudolph could get him connected in this offense?
The best teams that contend year-in and year-out are generally built from within with successful draft picks making up the core of the roster. Time will tell if the Titans are finally on that road again, though some of their picks from this spring are at least showing some promise. But that time is still far off, given the product the Titans are currently putting forth.
Growing pains abound
And speaking of time, Callahan did preach that it would take time to figure out if Levis could be turned into a franchise quarterback. But probably few Titans fans envisioned the nightmare beginning that process has become with interceptions aplenty and now a shoulder injury.
Is there still hope Levis will figure things out? Yes, though most fans have already bailed on him and Callahan’s offensive system after seeing the Titans be noncompetitive week after week, killing themselves with turnovers and an inability to stay in games.
Also, Callahan is finding out – and has said many times – he and his staff also have to be better. That includes the play-calling, such as critical decisions Sunday when he opened the door for the Bills’ second-half scoring avalanche by going for a fourth down in the Titans’ own territory with a 10-7 lead after the third-down play had already been stuffed.
Maybe Callahan wanted to give his struggling offensive line a chance to gain some confidence by sending a message of faith in them. Maybe he felt if the drive could have been extended, the Titans could have kept the pressure on the Bills instead of collapsing.
Given another shot, maybe Callahan doesn’t make that decision.
There odds were always against a team with a first-time head coach, first-time coordinators and an unproven quarterback behind a shaky line hitting a home run this season. And this is what is unfolding.
How Callahan navigates these troubled waters and learns from the mistakes will be key to seeing this rebuild through.
As Callahan said Monday, he has been through the year-one problems several times before. Though this is his first time doing it as a head coach.
“Every Year One I’ve been a part of has been hard,” he says. “Year One in Cincinnati was hard. Year One in Oakland with Jon Gruden was hard.
“There’s always going to be difficulty of having to go through this. But my experience in this gives me the hope that I can handle it and that I have some road map that I can get through it.”