Nashville, TN – On January 24th, 2024, Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk announced the hiring of former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as head coach.
Callahan arrived in Tennessee with 18 years of coaching experience and 14 years of NFL coaching experience, including the past five seasons in Cincinnati.
The addition of Callahan, the 20th head coach in franchise history, signaled the beginning of a new era for the Titans that also involves a new front office structure. Ran Carthon was promoted to executive vice president/general manager, while Chad Brinker was elevated to the newly created position of president of football operations. Burke Nihill remains in his role as president and CEO.
During Callahan’s time in Cincinnati, he served under head coach Zac Taylor and was part of two AFC North titles, two AFC Championship appearances, and a Super Bowl berth. He also helped guide quarterback Joe Burrow from the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2020 to multiple single-season franchise records by his second year and Pro Bowl honors within three years.
Callahan, a former walk-on quarterback at UCLA, broke into the NFL coaching world in 2010 as an assistant with the Denver Broncos. He remained in Denver through 2015, rising to the role of offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach and playing a part in the team’s Super Bowl 50 victory. He spent the next three years as the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions (2016–2017) and Oakland Raiders (2018) before becoming the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.
Throughout his time in the NFL, he has gained expertise working with some of the game’s top quarterbacks: Burrow, Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, and Derek Carr.
New Front Office Roles
Carthon was a year into his tenure as Titans general manager when he received his promotion. His responsibilities moving forward encompass all areas that impact the football team: roster control, team activities and personnel decisions including draft and free agency acquisitions, oversight of Callahan and his coaching staff, scouting, sports medicine, and player engagement.
The former San Francisco 49ers executive now looks to build upon a 2023 campaign in which the Tennessee Titans added key young pieces through the draft, including quarterback Will Levis, offensive lineman Peter Skoronski and running back Tyjae Spears. This offseason, Carthon also receives the benefit of having significantly fewer restrictions related to the salary cap than the organization had when he arrived a year ago.
One of Carthon’s initial tasks in 2023 was hiring Brinker as assistant general manager of strategy and Anthony Robinson as assistant general manager of personnel. Robinson continues in his job working with the college and pro scouting staffs. Brinker’s duties have expanded to include executive leadership and support for the entire football side of the organization.
He directly oversees the football departments that address salary cap management, analytics and strategy, communications, information systems, and team operations, including security, video, equipment, and grounds. Brinker will also continue to provide scouting evaluations of college and NFL talent.
Callahan’s hiring and the restructuring in the front office come with the expectation of returning the Tennessee Titans to the postseason and ultimately building a championship team. The Titans finished the 2023 season with a 6-11 record and missed the postseason for the second consecutive year. Prior to that, they made the playoffs four times in a five-year span (2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021).
“As I’ve said time and time again, I will never shy away from saying that I have extremely high expectations for our football team and really our entire organization,” said Strunk. “I expect us to build a team that is going to have sustained success and bring Lombardi trophies to the city of Nashville. I am confident that we have put the right pieces in place to bring that goal to life and build a future that Titan fans will be proud of.”
