Brian Callahan was the first head coach to be fired this season, raising the question of who could replace him for the Titans on a permanent basis next offseason.
Given that Tennessee G.M. Mike Borgonzni spent his pro career with Kansas City before he was hired in January, one assistant who has been brought up as a potential candidate is Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Nagy was previously the Bears head coach from 2018-2021, accumulating a 34-31 record with a pair of postseason appearances. While Chicago went 12-4 in his first year, the club was 8-8 in 2019 and 2020 before going 6-11 in 2021.
Nagy has been back with Kansas City ever since, first as senior assistant and quarterbacks coach in 2022 before being promoted to offensive coordinator — the role he had before departing for Chicago — in 2023.
Generally, Nagy has been with Andy Reid for most of his coaching career, starting as an intern with the Eagles in 2008. He went with Reid from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 2013.
So it makes sense that when asked about Nagy becoming a head coach again on Wednesday, Reid gave a heart endorsement.
“I’m his biggest fan — and ‘Spags’ [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] likewise,” Reid said in his press conference. “So, listen, if they have that opportunity, more power to them. … I hope he gets that opportunity, for sure. Tremendous coach and person.”
There’s a lot of time between now and when the Titans will make a new hire. But Nagy will be one to watch this offseason, especially if Tennessee elects to hire someone with previous experience as a head coach.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward moved onto the second head coach of his brief NFL career when the team fired Brian Callahan and replaced him with Mike McCoy this week, but he said on Wednesday that the change isn’t going to create much upheaval for him.
Ward said he feels for Callahan “because of what he has done for me to get to this point,” but that he has developed a good relationship with McCoy since the pre-draft process and that he thinks the coach’s history with other top quarterbacks will benefit him over the rest of his rookie season.
“My job is to play quarterback, and my job is to help lead this team to wins,” Ward said, via the team’s website. “I am going to support whatever decision we make, and the guys in the locker room are going to support it. At the end of the day, with coach or without coach, we are trying to win football games and that is the same message coach Mike is preaching. We just have to live by it and stay true to it.”
There’s a chance McCoy could get the job on a permanent basis, but the offseason is likelier to bring a third head coach for Ward to work with and making sure his development stays on track through the changes will be of prime importance in Tennessee.
Mike McCoy’s first practice as the Titans’ interim head coach will feature the return of a key defensive player.
The Titans announced on Wednesday that they have designated defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat for return from injured reserve. Sweat injured his ankle in Week 1 and has missed the last five games as a result.
Sweat will be able to practice for the next three weeks and he can be activated at any point in that window. He won’t be able to return if he is not activated before the three weeks are up, however.
Sweat had two tackles in the opener and he had 51 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery during his rookie season.
When the Dolphins visit the Browns on Sunday, something rare will occur. Beyond the fact that one of the two 1-5 teams will actually win a football game (unless they tie).
For the first time in 19 years, a pair of left-handed quarterbacks will square off in an NFL game when Tua Tagovailoa and Dillon Gabriel meet for the first time.
It last happened on September 17, 2006. Buccaneers at Falcons. Chris Simms vs. Mike Vick. After failing (once again) to properly answer a trivia question in which a quarterback named Simms was the right answer, Chris rattled off his memories of the 14-3 Atlanta win, in which he threw for a career-high 313 yards. The Falcons unveiled the read option for the first time ever, befuddling the Bucs’ defense with both Vick and Warrick Dunn rushing for more than 100 yards.
But, yes, that’s the last time two left-handed quarterbacks started an NFL game. A reader planted the seed, and we did the research to confirm that there has been no other lefty vs. lefty contest since then.
There haven’t been many left-handed quarterbacks in the past 19 years. Others during that window include Jared Lorenzen, Tyler Palko, Matt Leinart, Pat White, Tim Tebow, and Kellen Moore.
Currently, there are three: Tagovailoa, Gabriel, and Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
It most likely won’t be 19 years until the next all-lefty game. In Week 8, the Falcons host the Dolphins — and Tagovailoa will face Penix.
On Sunday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will coach his team in Tennessee against the Titans, whom he coached from 2018 to 2023. Vrabel understands why the media might find that interesting, but he says he’s only focused on what’s important to winning the game.
“There is going to be, probably, a lot to be said about this,” Vrabel said, via Boston.com. “I think it would be filed under the category of, is it interesting or important? I would probably say this would be very interesting, but in the end not very important to our preparation or what we need to continue to try to do to improve as a team. But, having spent six years there or seven years there, I think it will be nice to see some people that I haven’t seen in a few years that helped us win, players and staff. We’ve got a huge job we’ve got to do here as we try to prepare for them.”
Vrabel led the Titans to the playoffs three times in six years, but they fired him after he went 6-11 in 2023. They then hired Brian Callahan, which worked out so well that Callahan was fired this week.
Now Vrabel will coach against Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy on Sunday, as the Titans attempt to begin the process of getting back on track after what increasingly looks like a bad decision to fire Vrabel.
