 This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Plan on paying less for the coverage you need with Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote today at FBHP.com. I'm Mike Keith and this is the Man of the Hour, Brian Callahan, new head coach of the Tennessee Titans. We know for sure that it is Brian Callahan because in Cincinnati you were often mistaken for Dan Pitcher, the quarterback coach, or Dan Pitcher was mistaken for you and this was a pretty regular thing? It became a regular thing, yeah. Dan and I do look very similar and I could see how the mistake could be made, but yeah there was lots of pictures that weren't me on the internet so Dan and I got to joke about it. Every time I would pop up I'd send it to them and a lot of people were joking that the Titans didn't, they thought they were hiring Dan and they hired me. And then the Bengals fans on Twitter started posting just random pictures of people saying it was me, like Denzel Washington, just random pictures that obviously were not me. So it became a little bit of a bit as it went along. You had a lot of fun in Cincinnati, didn't you? Yeah, we won a lot of games. That's usually a starting point. But man just awesome players to be around, great people in the building and you add that to the success that we had on the field. The response from the fan base, the way the stadium looked when we were 0-11 in 2019, there was about 6,000 people there. We striped the jungle on Monday night when we striped there, I mean organically, I mean it was not a, they didn't hand anything out, they just asked everyone in each section to wear colors and the whole thing looked unbelievable on TV. Just that environment on game day from what it was to what it became was a really cool process to be a part of, but it was fun. Is there anything better in sports than what it just gets rolling? There's nothing better in sports and especially when you're with people you like being with. And that was the key in Cincinnati to me for our success is that a bunch of guys that like being together, coaches, players, great relationships across the board. And so you add that and you throw some success in it and it explodes. And it's the most fun. I've probably, you know, I've had had it happen one other time like that in Denver and I'm looking to replicate it. So Dave McGinnis does color commentary with me on Titans Radio. Yeah. He knew Zach Taylor and his brother Press when they were little kind of like your son Ronan about five, six years old. And he always told us, he said, you know, Zach is going to be something really special as a head coach. So impressed, not just with the offensive mind, but with him as the overall head coach. What made him successful in that way? You know, he had a great, he had a great vision for what he wanted. And he never wavered from it, which I thought was really impressive. He wanted, he wanted it to be a building full of great people. A place that everyone wanted to come to work every day and we're excited about walking in the building. And that goes a long way. And he never, even when it was a little bit lean those first couple years, he never wavered from what he thought it could be. And everyone felt that. They felt that, that he was determined to make it exactly what he envisioned it to be. And I think that his consistency, his demeanor, he's an unbelievable leader and not in the way that people would think. And I think that that's what made it really special for me is that I saw a guy who's a peer of mine and a friend of mine be himself. And it worked unbelievable. And that's a huge lesson to take from it, just I'm gonna be me. And it's gonna work because of that, not because I'm trying to do something different or be somebody that I'm not. And Zack's ability to do that over the course of five years. I mean, there's not, you can't find anybody that doesn't have anything good to say about Zack. A locker room senses it when a coach is not being genuine, a head coach is not being genuine. Immediately, immediately. And it's, they know, they're gauging you on whether they want to buy in or not. And if you don't seem genuine, if they don't feel that you have their best interest that you care about them, they tend to question it. And then the minute things don't go well, they bail on it. And so the hope is they buy into the vision. They believe that I am authentically who I say I am. I act the way that I say I'll act. We build great relationships together. And then when things get tough, because they do in the NFL all the time, that's when you're leaning on the locker room in a culture to band together. That's when you see culture, in my opinion, is when things are hard. And I think this year in Cincinnati, you saw that things got hard. We lost our quarterback, but nothing changed. We still were competitive. We still won games. And that to me is a better testament of culture when things are difficult, as opposed to when things are just smooth and sailing right along. And that's what you hope to build, because you have a bunch of guys that trust each other, believe in each other, and want to be a part of that process and be a part of a team, as opposed to just worrying about themselves. What is the aspect of being a head coach that you are most excited about? That's a great question. All of it, really. Just the chance, because I believe that I've been capable, I believe that my abilities to lead a group of people, to connect with a group of people. And I think that there's an organization here that feels exactly the same from top to bottom, and that's exciting to me. But that role where I can be the one out front, that I can help bring people together, help connect the team, that's exciting to me. That's what coaching is. It's building those relationships. It's helping develop people, young players, veteran players, and being in the process of the one that's in charge of it. That's cool to me. I can't wait to do that. So I don't know if that's a good answer, but... What do you expect to be the biggest challenge for you, moving from offensive coordinator to head coach in the NFL? From everything I've heard, time. There's just a lot of people over the course of a day that want a piece of your time. And it might be five minutes. It might be 30 minutes. It might be three hours. But people want your time a lot more than they used to want your time. I could sit in my office and no one would bother me for most of the day as an offensive coordinator, and that's gonna change. But I also think people that have done this before have given the advice that even the ones that do come in and need five minutes of your time, that's the most important five minutes of their day. And so to be present and engage and listen to what those people have to say, whether I think it's significant to what I'm doing in the moment or not, really goes a long way. And so I thought that was great advice that was given to me about that, is that your time is your biggest challenge. Got more with Coach Calhann in a second, the need to remind Titans fans. It's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action, whether that's a cup of coffee on your way to the game or grabbing one to go before watching the game at home. Duncan is always there to help you get your game on. Just like the pros, we need to be at our best come game time, which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual because it's always the best call for football. America runs on Duncan. Everyone knows your dad's Bill Calhann, head coach of the Oakland Raiders, head coach at Nebraska. What's the best advice that he has given you about becoming a head coach? I was a head coach. Probably, there's a lot, I'm trying to siphon through it all. The one that's always resonated with the most is as he's said the same thing. And I've said it already, but it's just be you, be who you are. Don't try to be me as my dad telling me, don't try to be your dad, just be who you are. And that's gonna be plenty good enough. And that's always resonated with me in my whole life. Your dad's something else. 40 plus years as a coach, 24 years in the NFL. He is a coach's coach, much like our own Dave McGinnis. He's one of those guys that everywhere your dad walks in, they're like, Bill Calhann, whoa, you know, that's a guy. As you go through and know that, people have wondered when he was with the Raiders, you were just finishing high school, but when he went to Nebraska, you were finishing UCLA, you didn't go with him. You wanted to make your own way, and you have chosen to do that all the way through from being a GA to being a high school coach to working your way up through the NFL. Why? Well, he, I had the opportunity as I was finishing playing at UCLA, I could, the head coach, time called the rail came to me and said, we have a graduate assistant spot open. We would love it if you wanted to take it. And I was like, yeah, I think that's probably one of my, my football dreams are probably been realized to the degree that I could realize them. And so I said, this is probably the next good step. And to me, I was like, well, I can get a master's at UCLA, great, and we'll see if I like coaching. But to me, I just wanted to get the masters and just see how coaching was. My dad also had a spot open for me at the same time. And he said, I said, I kinda wanna come work for you. I just, I love being around my dad, so I'll work with him. And he said, I think you should consider staying at UCLA. And his reasoning was, he goes, I don't wanna be the one to give you your first job. I don't wanna be the one that's always giving you a job. I want you to go earn your own way. And he goes, you've invested at UCLA, you've been there for four years. They know you, they want you there. I suggested you do that instead of coming here to Nebraska. And that was probably the best advice he could have given me in my career in that moment because even though my last name and my dad is who he is and it's helped me over my career, my dad never gave me a job. And when I was out of work, he never hired me. I've had to earn it, I've had to earn it the way that everybody else has had to go through it. I appreciate that, I'm better for it. And that was really a critical advice at a junction of my career where all of a sudden everyone looks at me like my dad just gave me a job and they don't respect my journey right now. I did it my own way, I did it my own path. And I think people respect that. Yeah, your name means something to you because of what he's done. But it's not the only reason you're sitting here today, the 20th head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Sounds pretty good. That sounds pretty good. Yeah, it's, I've appreciated it more the years, as the years have gone on, I've appreciated it even more just because of the reputation of coaching and coaches and coaches, kids and all that stuff. But it's the only life I've ever known. And so it's a natural fit was a natural fit for me. But I'm very proud of the fact that I've had to do it my way. And I've been very fortunate. Things have sort of worked out the way they worked out. But it was because of the work that I had to put in to get here. And I think that that means a lot. We know the impact of Bill Callahan on your life. But you have two sisters. I do. Your mom certainly knows ball from her background having lived with a coach her life. Allison has been your wife for over 10 years now. And she understands the NFL and understands being a coach's wife. What have those women added to what you bring here today as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans? They've, you know, I look at my sisters a lot because they lived, you know, we grew up differently even though we grew up in the same family because, you know, I was, my dad was younger. They grew up with, they grew up with my dad as a head coach which I did, I did not grow up that way. So they grew up with them in a spotlight. They had a much harder time than I did growing up in terms of the attention that my dad received both positive and negative. They had to move in high school. I did not have to do that. And so the amount of respect I have for them in this coaching journey and how resilient they've been and how much they've had to find, they've had to find their own way too because as a son of a coach, I get to go be in the locker room and be around my dad. And it's harder for the girls to be around the process. And so it's much more open than now than it ever was which is phenomenal. But their ability to overcome and deal with the ups and downs of coaching is really where I've, you know, they'll have a ton of respect for that that they've had to go through. So they're pretty incredible. I hope you guys all get to meet them. But yeah, my sisters are incredible human beings and they, because of the journey they've had to go through, you know, moving and being all over the country and all that, they've turned into pretty awesome people. Your mom must be pretty tough. Oh yeah, there's nobody tougher. You know, raising four kids essentially on her own for large parts of time, just because of my dad worked the way that coaching requires you to work. And yeah, she is, I'm having my own two children. I'm Marvel at how she managed for, how she managed to get everybody. We played ice hockey. So we were getting up at five in the morning and driving two hours to go play while my sisters were in the backseat and just dragging us all over Wisconsin when we were kids. And I just look at it now and I'm like, I can't believe you did what you did. And you've turned out four really pretty awesome kids. And it's remarkable, really. I mean, I don't know how she did it. All right, so thinking about your dad and your mom and your family, I think about January 19th, 2003. AFC Championship came. Oakland against Tennessee. Oakland wins 41 to 24. We fumbled twice before halftime. It's just kind of, anyway, still not quite over it. I understand, trust me. I get that. Where were you that day? I was there in the stadium. I was probably sitting in, where were we, 2-14 or 2-15 right there in the Oakland Coliseum? You were 18 at that point. Yeah, I was a senior in high school. I might've been a freshman in college. Either way, I remember being there. And we were sitting up in the box, I'm way wrong. We were up in the coaches, head coaches box and I was there with a couple of my friends from college. I had right in my freshman year. That was a really, really cool moment for me to watch my dad host the Lamar Hunt Trophy. He's got Jerry Rice sitting next to him. LL Cool J did halftime. Did, that's 100% right, he did. Yeah, that was a, what a cool memory as a coach's kid. I remember being on the field. I used to love going on the field in pregame to see and hear and you'd feel the energy in the stadium and like, playoff games are different. And even as a coach, you feel it, but the playoff energy is so different, so intense. And like, especially at a place like Oakland, just it's a raucous crowd to begin with. And I just remember it was so loud. I had a Gatorade Cup and I was just drinking Gatorade and I had finished it, but it was right at kickoff. I used to wait until kickoff. So I could see the kickoff team run down because I just was always like, this is amazing how fast these guys are. And right after National Anthem, the place is going crazy. They're beginning to kick the ball off and the cup in my hand was vibrating. And I'll never forget it because it was so loud, the sound was vibrating the cup in my hand. And I was like, this is what football is supposed to be about. But yeah, what an unbelievable day that was for us. That was great. Now you need to say, what a horrible day. It was horrible. It's awful, Jeff. Why call your own plays? A lot of reasons. One, I like being involved in the process. That's part of what makes football fun for me is the solving the problems. Two, in today's NFL, everyone's always looking for the next offensive coach. And so just like just what happened to Zach and Cincinnati, I've left and nothing changes for Joe Burrow, the system's gonna stay the same. No matter who you hire, the voice to the quarterback is consistent and the dream is that Will and I have a partnership for the next 10 years. And he's the person that I hear him every Sunday for the next 10 years. He hears me, the system doesn't change, the verbiage is the same. So the quarterback has a chance to master an offense. And I think that that's important because outside of the ownership, the GM and myself, the next most important relationship in the building is me and him. And it's hard to foster that relationship without being involved in the process. And so I believe in that. I've seen it work. You see coaches run a league doing it, but that's the biggest reason why is it. One, I love doing it. And two, there's another part of that process where we want the system to stay the same and we don't wanna lose it. Brian, one of the first questions you got in your press conference was about Will. About Will Levis and had you, I know you didn't need a quarterback because you got Joe Burrow, but had you done much work on him? So you were aware of it. I was very familiar. Very aware. You know, I watch all the quarterbacks every year just to know, because you never know how guys shake out if you, we didn't need one obviously, but you just awareness of the quarterbacks is good because you got pride to play him. And so I saw he's super talented. His junior tape at Kentucky was really impressive. His senior year, he lost some players. He wasn't as good as he was his junior year, but you see the traits. He's big, he's strong, he's fast. He's hyper competitive. He can throw the ball all over the field. And then he got some experience this year. And so like I said in my press conference, the NFL is a bear on young quarterbacks. And so that learning process is critical. And now you get a chance to step back, install a new system while evaluating, what did you do well? What can we do better? How do we improve everything about your game going into year two? A large part of that's gonna be, he's involved in OTAs and training camp as a starting quarterback. So the reps are gonna go his way. And so he's gonna grow and he's gonna mature and he's gonna turn into a better player in year two and three and four. And I guess hopefully we have a partnership together for a really long time. How quickly do you hope to have a staff in place? I'd like it to be done ideally before the combine, which is plenty of time. I'd like it to be done by them, but it could be done sooner. It just depends on how these things move, but we are gonna take our time. We're not just going to hire to hire. We're gonna interview people. We're gonna get some ideas from around the league and talk to guys that I've maybe had not familiar with and see how we can build the best staff together. There's gonna be a combination of veteran coaches, some younger coaches, guys that I've worked with and I know guys that maybe I don't. And so we're gonna try to build the best diversity of thought. And I think that that's important in a coaching staff and the mixture of youth and experience is a big part of it too. So it's a process that I'm really kind of chomping to get started at truthfully. Morith Coach Callahan in a second. Reminds you that Seed Geek is now the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans Games or any other live event in Nashville, Seed Geek is the place to do it. Seed Geek the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans so Titans fans can fan. Let's wrap up with this. I recently asked Amy Adams-Strunk at this moment where the franchise is turning in a new direction. What is it important for Titans fans to know? So I ask you, what do you want them to know at this moment? About me? About anything, what would you, what do you want them to feel? What should they feel like is coming? I wish they could feel, I wish I could bottle up and sell what I felt when I was in the interview on Monday here. And what I mean by that is the energy from the people that I got to talk to, the excitement about what's to come. You could feel the newness of some of the things that were happening, obviously with Rand being here and Chad and there's, there's just this, there's this kind of behind the scenes energy swell that I felt in the interview that said to me, this fits you, you gotta be here. And I, this was like the only place I wanted to go. And that's because I felt that. And I hope, and I know they will eventually, but that the fans feel that, see that, that there's some really, I think some really awesome, awesome times ahead. And I believe that in my core that we're set up to have a lot of success. And it's, even if it's not immediate, it's coming. And I'd, again, I wish I could give it to them so they could feel what I feel in this moment. But I feel it and I hope that they do too. And if not now, hopefully, sooner than later as they get to get to see what our team's gonna look like and how we continue to build it. Brian, we've been here at Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park since August 25th, 1999. This is one of the great days that we've ever had in that 25 year period to meet Allison, to meet Nora, to meet Ronan, to hear you and to see your excitement. And as we have prepared for you to read all of these articles and study, I don't know that I've ever encountered a first-time head coach who was more ready for this opportunity in a fan base that was more ready to have you lead the two-tone blue and having everybody say, tighten up as much as possible. Get ready for that. They're gonna tell you that. I can't wait. They're gonna tell you that. Thank you. Thank you so much. And welcome. Thank you. Looking forward to working. All right. Tighten up.