Titans fire HC Brian Callahan after a brutal 1-5 start to the 2025 season

After stumbling to a miserable 1-5 start this season and posting a 4-19 record overall, Brian Callahan has officially been handed his walking papers, just a season and a half into his tenure. The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport was first to break the news on Monday afternoon.

The Titans only victory came in Week 5, when they scraped past the Arizona Cardinals. On Sunday, the Titans were thoroughly outplayed in a 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, a game so lifeless that they didn't even score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Tennessee now owns the dubious distinction of being the first team this season to swing the axe.

After five years steering the offense for the Cincinnati Bengals, Brian Callahan made the leap to Tennessee ahead of the 2024 season, stepping into his first head coaching role. But things never really got off the ground. 

The Titans stumbled to a 3-14 finish last year, "earning" the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, a pick they used on Cam Ward. Fast forward to now, and Callahan's brief spell in charge wraps up with a dismal 1-5 start to the 2025 season and 4-19 overall record.

It's yet another chapter in what's become a revolving-door era for the franchise. Tennessee has now cycled through GM Jon Robinson, HC Mike Vrabel, GM Ran Carthon, and now HC Brian Callahan, all dismissed at different points in a span of just a few years.

Sure, Callahan came in with pedigree and a résumé polished in Cincinnati, but that didn't translate to points on Sundays. From day one, he looked like a man trying to keep his head above water, and this latest firing felt more like an inevitability than a surprise. With Ran Carthon, the man who hired him, already out the door, current GM Mike Borgonzi had no reason to cling to a coach who clearly wasn't his guy.

The Tennessee Titans are gearing up for a Week 7 clash against the New England Patriots, and it comes with some added spice, as they’ll be facing their former head coach Mike Vrabel.

Meanwhile, Brian Callahan made unfortunate history this week, becoming the first NFL head coach fired this season. He edged out other hot-seat candidates like Mike McDaniel, Zac Taylor, and Brian Daboll, all of whom have faced varying levels of scrutiny early in the year.

Before his rise through the NFL coaching ranks, Callahan cut his teeth in the college game. A former quarterback at UCLA, he began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant under then-head coach Karl Dorrell. Since 2010, however, he’s been firmly entrenched in the NFL coaching circuit.

Despite the turmoil, the Titans' head coaching vacancy could be one of the more attractive gigs in the upcoming hiring cycle. Tennessee holds a cornerstone in Cam Ward, the former Miami Hurricanes quarterback and No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, a young signal-caller around whom the franchise can build its next era.