But Andy Wells. I'm Mike Keith and this is the OTP with Titans head coach Brian Callahan, presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. In the Game of Health Coverage. Farm Bureau Health Plans is the MVP. Tennesseeans have relied on their unmatched rates, coverage and service for nearly eighty years. The head coaches here. It is game week, Broan Callahan. Welcome, Yeah, welcome to kickoff week. It's exciting.
It is exciting, and we obviously have a lot of football stuff to talk about. But before we get to the kickoff week stuff, I want to rewind just a hair because I want to talk to you about last week's and evening with the Titans dinner event. Sure, and at that event, you made the decision to announce the caps for this team at that event, which I think is surprised a lot of people. What was your thinking behind doing that?
I wanted them to make it special for the guys being announced. I thought it was a cool venue to do, so I can't take full credit for it. Tom Jones does deserve some credit. He had initially brought the idea up to me and I said, yeah, if we can get the jerseys done. So we called Joey in and our equipment head of equipment, and I said, hey, can you get these first of all, do you have any C patches?
The captage patch?
Yes, the patch, and can you get it on these jerseys in you know, think three hours. He goes, yeah, no problem, we can. We can get it done. And he goes, let me check and make sure I have the patches first, and thankfully he found them somewhere in the equipment room. He'd had them stashed away, and he was able to get those jerseys done. And I think I got a text from I gotta talk to more Cox, and then I got a text for some other from Will and just how they didn't even realize how much that was going to mean to them. I know, Jeff was really excited to have the C patch on his jersey, and in the moment he was, you could see how excited he was, and Morgan had said that he hadn't he just he goes, I didn't think it wouldn't mean that much because I couldn't stop looking at it, you know, like I had a jersey home that night, And so it means a lot to those guys and I thought that was the proper form for us to kind of publicly our team was there for the most part. Now our whole coaching staff wasn't, but our team was there, and I thought that was a good venue to make it feel a little bit more special than just me telling him in the team meeting.
Why is it important to you to establish traditions like that here in your very first year as a head coach.
Because you're always trying to put your own twist on things, in your own spin on whatever it is you do on a day to day basis, and so things that are new and exciting are new and exciting for the players too, and so I think that they enjoy those things. They enjoy things different than what they've experienced before. And you know, there's when you build tradition and you build your program, you want to have certain markers during the course of the season in the offseason that did that have some meaning and everyone's got their things. But I thought that was a good place to, you know, try to put a little bit of emphasis on those captains and then representing our team.
Aby I didn't make Morgan Cox very happy because while he was standing up there with Brian I said, hey, when you were at Tennessee, did you ever play against Brian when he was at UCLA? And Borgan gave me this look and he stopped me in the lunch room too, to again let me know he wasn't thrilled with me pointing out his age. They didn't by the way, they did not play against one another. They just missed each other. Brian did admit it to dinner. He played against Nick Folk when he was at Arizona.
That is correct too.
But I've got a better one though. This Sunday, you're going to see Mercedes Lewis, forty year olds tight end. Marcedes Lewis the former first round pick of the Jaguars in two thousand and six. Their second round pick was Maurice Jones Drew, who's now been on TV for ten years. What is it about Marcedes Lewis that has allowed him to play in the NFL?
Yeah, I don't know. At that position, yes, traditionally one that deals with injury at a pretty regular rate. Just they're usually smaller than who they play against. History says they all get hurt at some point, they break down a bit. But what he's been able to accomplish has been incredible. Mercedes and I were in the same recruiting class at UCLA. He lived in the room right across the hall from me, So I was teammates at Mercedes for four years and he's the best. He's great. What he's been able to do for the as long as he's been able to do it is an incredible testament to his toughness, his love of the game. Boy, you gotta love it to play that many years at that position, and he's been you know, he was, he was, he's he's six almost sixty seven. He's two hundred and seventy pounds now, I mean he's he's a big person, so he doesn't wear down maybe as much as some other guys that played the position too, but incredible tip of the cap to him that I think he is the longest tenured tight end the history of football.
Yeah, I mean it has to be.
I actually played against Mercedes. I didn't play in this particular game, but we played against Mercedes when I was in high school. Dels L High School of Conquered California went down to play Long Beach Poly High School in two thousand and two thousand and one, and it was the first time at the number one and number two ranked high school teams played each other in a regular season game. Mercedes was on that Long Beach Poly team, which was loaded with talent.
Yeah, they're generally as they always are, generally Okay, so he was.
He uh yeah, but what I mean, what an incredible what an incredible player in person?
He is?
He's I'm looking forward to saying load to him for the game.
Well, let's talk about that game a little bit, because we are officially in preparation for Week one against the Chicago Bears. How do you kick off that preparation this week?
Slowly?
This week because we get a bonus day to day, so players were off. For those that don't know, players were off the weekend Friday, Saturday, Sundays. You saw a lot of guys back at their alma maters and things like that. It's a good weekend to just take a deep breath from training camp and really try to transition into the regular season. So we came back today as a bonus day, so we still practiced and it was regular practice. We just kind of went against ourselves and we didn't do any real prep. Even my team meeting today wasn't even about Chicago. It's there, They're just we're not quite there yet, even though you can feel it. And it is a game week. But Tuesdays the off day, and Wednesday will start the regular prep. We've we've gotten ahead as a coaching staff. We've introduced bits and pieces to the players. But I've always found that too much time on your hands tends to be literally lead to some over analysis and overthinking when you just you know, you don't get this extra time for any other game. So just treat it the same and start Wednesday when you're supposed to start.
Go back your business. Yea, So the injury report will come out on Wednesday, and for a player who's been injured like a DeAndre Hopkins who hasn't practiced in several weeks, as you prepare to go forward from a game plan standpoint, when do you need to have an idea you're gonna have players like that available or you're not.
Earlier is always better, But you can manage that at some positions a little easier than others. You know where you can you can wait till a Thursday or Friday and just make sure they have the handful of plays that you that they need to make sure they're focused in on. That's where it does get easier now, is that now you're working through a game plan, and so there's only so many plays you have up in a game, and it's not like training camp where you're pulling from eight or nine or ten installs in your entire offense, and there's just a lot more. Everything tightens down, and so you can you can use players in limited roles or whatever role their physical ability lets them play in. So not a huge deal. If it's you know, for him, if we don't get the green light by Friday, or if it's we get the red light on Wednesday, it doesn't matter. I can manage either either one of those scenarios with a guy like that.
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So let's start with linebacker Ernest Jones. How do you expect to utilize him on Sunday?
Yeah, he's gonna play. I mean, he's he's we we we traded for him and signed him for a reason, and that's to help us. Obviously, Jack Gibbons has certainly has more time on task and so that's probably where the game starts. But but he's gonna have a role and he's gonna play some. And really, the more comfortable he gets, the more he learns. It's like learning a new language. You know, he's got to pick up the verbage. And again it's it's a little easier in a game week because it's tighter, the package is tighter, But it's really gonna be up to him on how fast he learns and feels comfortable and can communicate the verbage in terminology. So looking forward to seeing that role grow for him. And and we're gonna use all our linebackers. I mean, there's all kinds of roles those guys can fill. So I would anticipate seeing him on the field.
We did not see Harold Landry at all in the preseason, but he ended the twenty twenty three season in a pretty remarkable fashion. He was one of the best past rushers in the National Football League. How do we think that he is going to be able to pick up where he left off in the twenty twenty four season.
Everything about what Harold's done and where he's at will lead me to believe that he's not far from where he was when he finished. He's been He's had a really really good training camp, he had a hell of an offseason in terms of workout wise. He's really was in shape, he was dialed in, he was he was fantastic. And so he's also done this for a while now. And those are the guys as they stack years in the league where you end up saying, I know what it's going to look like. So I feel really good about where Harold's at and what that's going to look like for us. But he's I anticipate him playing really good football. Him and you know him and Jeff, the two guys that have you been here probably the longest almost and then the guys that have played the most for us over the years, and so those guys are anticipate seeing the same version of those guys that everybody knows and loves.
Harold, Landry arden Key and Ben. Who else do you expect to see take part in the rotation at outside linebacker this weekend at Soldier Field.
Yeah, it's gonna be. It's gonna be those guys. It'll be you know, Jalen, Harold will play, Caleb Murphy will play. We'll see how far all he comes along. Those guys are all viable options. I think we get you know, you got six guys for probably what's gonna be five active spots on the game day roster. But you know, what that rotation looks like will kind of be determined. But we're gonna need those guys to help us and step in and play a role, because it's hard to play every snap if you're Harold and Arden. So we're gonna need two more guys to be able to step up and play for us.
You also have four defensive linemen on the roster. Depth wise, do you feel like you can mix and match enough defensive personnel to get through the game with four defensive linemen?
Yeah, we probably won't go in with four. We'll probably elevate from the practice squad most likely just to get the fifth. We'll carry five most most games, with some version of five d linemen for the for the active roster, just because you need those spots. So the answer is no, I don't feel comfortable with four, and that's that's why we have the practice squad spots and we can do some standard elevations that you should get a few of them, and then we'll go from there and we'll see where the roster's at in two three weeks.
All right, A lot of new on the Chicago Bears offense. Keenan Allen at wide receiver, DeAndre Swift in the running back position obviously, Caleb Williams, the rookie quarterback Shane Waldron, the offensive coordinator. Is it hard to get a handle on what Chicago's offense is going to look like with all the new?
Probably no harder than it is for them to get a handle on us with all the new. I think it's very similar in that regard that they got new coaching, new players, quite a few, and some unknowns in a rookie quarterback, and so we're gonna find out. You know, you can you can watch what they've been in their previous places. Obviously we know what keithan Allen can do in swift and you watch Kayleb Williams as a college player, you know what he's capable, and you see his preseason tape and you see the things that you saw when he was in college, and so all of those things will be They'll be dealing with the same things that we are with. There's some unknown there's some new. Not a ton of continuity across the board, but certain spots have some And you know, I think Shane's I've known Shane for a long time. I think Shane's a really really good football coach, and they did a really nice job in Seattle. And so you try to base on what maybe he's done before and what things he leans on. But at the end of the day, they got a different set of players than he did in Seattle, and so he'll have his own twist for their roster they have now. So just a matter of settling in and finding your way through. The first part of the game is usually always the always the hardest part.
Switching to offense. What is Will Levis's main challenge this Sunday against Chicago's secondary?
Yeah, it's a good defense. I wish we got to open up against like Southwestern State, you know, so we could so we could really get our get our bearings. But now we got to go against the Chicago Bears and that defense that's they go. Yes, But I just think that he's going to have to be smart with the ball.
You know.
The name of the game usually in this first week or two of the season is is how well you take care of the football, how much you minimize your own mistakes, you know what I mean? There's a there's an element of we just need to do our jobs first and need to worry about what we can do and not necessarily worry as much about them, because that's where sometimes the mistakes happen you try to do too much, and that's what wins and loses. He's opening a couple of games probably the first three weeks of the season is how well do you just execute what you're good at? And that's what I'm gonna ask of Will is just do the things he's good at and manage the game from that standpoint and keep the ball in our possession and make sure we're making good decisions and completing the football and then we'll be aggressive when we need to. But there's definitely a don't beat yourself in the first week, and that's going to be a big part of it. Is playing smart football.
It's Bears coach Matt Eberflus's defense, that's his background. But there is a new defensive coordinator in Eric Washington. Do you expect any tweaks from what you've seen from an Eberflus defense, especially when he was totally running it at the end of twenty.
Twenty three, You know, I think that's his mo that's what he's cut his teeth on his defensive football, and he's been a part a lot of really good defenses. I got a ton of respect for coach abraflues and places he's been times I played against him. I know what they're all about. I know what we're in for, So I anticipating a lot of that. Now. Eric Washington has had a really good run in Buffalo, and they did a really nice package of things in Buffalo on defense, and so I'm assuming we'll see some flavor of what he's done. That's why they hired him, is to bring some maybe new ideas, a new perspective, and I'm sure he'll do that. And so they've not shown much, and of course I'm sure they'll have planning to show us on Sunday. So I'm anticipating a little bit of maybe some things he's done in his past mixed with what they major in with with coach ebflu So I think they got the makings of a pretty pretty dang good defense.
So the Bears only had twenty sacks last season, which is why they added players like Montes Sweat, So you have to figure that they're going to be trying to set a tone on Sunday. How does Bill Callahan prepare the offensive line for what figures to be a full on assault?
Say, they know what they're in for. I mean, that's That's the one thing about having a coach that's been coaching for forty plus years. He knows how to do it, and so that that much I do know is that they will be prepared for what they're about to face, both schematically and an intensity. I think all those things will be We'll be ready to match whatever it is we're seeing and hopefully exceed it. But yeah, it is. You got a team that's trying to make a mark. They have a lot of a lot of enthusiasm around their their building, and they should. They are a very good football team, and our job is to is to not let that get off the ground week one. They can have it after us, but week one, I'd like to not let them have all that momentum. But it's it's it's a tough task going.
On the road.
That place will be low. Chicago's a great place to play. It's a great football city. They're excited about their team. They got a young quarterback that everyone wants to see, so uh, yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be pretty hilatious environment. What constitutes a successful rushing performance for the Titans on Sunday in Chicago what's good running the ball? Yeah, I mean you always, I really get more into the the carries can be skewed, you know, if you're just looking for volume of carries because hopefully you have a lead and you're in the fourth quarter trying to run a ball a bunch to kill the game, and that's where you can that's where those carries up take a ton. I'm really more concerned about the yards per carry mark and and our and our rush efficiency and our ability to generate some explosives. Love to be able to run the ball and hit a few explosives in there. And then the efficiency to us is always a really critical stat you know, are we are we up above fifty percent in our efficiency? And are we are we earning positive.
EPA?
We use epay quite a bit, so are we are we earning positive EPA every time we had the ball off or it was a negative, and so all those things factor in. But I think we look a lot at that the the yards per carry, which means you're getting explosives, and your ability to have positive EPA either percentage and or outcomes. So it's kind of nerdy, but that's what it is.
Okay, Well, it's for example. I mean, if you have third and one and you get two, that's a positive carry even though you only got two yards on a carry.
Correct, So that's that's we use all those things. If you're if it's first and ten and you get you know, you get six or you get five, that's a huge that's that's a really good run for the spot. If it's second and four and you get a first down, it's only four yards, but it's a first down, that's much more positive play then you get it.
But that's I love that stuff.
Yeah, sorry, I called you a nerd.
That's okay.
Let's talk about tight end, shall we. You've got five tight ends on this roster. Realistically, can five tight ends be active on Sunday in Chicago?
No? No, they can't.
I mean no, they dumb this.
No, they can't. Take good question it is.
I mean it would, it would. If you win it five tight ends, you'd be really thin somewhere else. Probably they fill similar special teams roles. You probably are given and taken at linebacker or safety. That those three positions sort of make up your core special team. So No. Five is a lot. It's just going to be a determination between the fourth active tight end and the fifth active linebacker or the fifth or fourth active safety. It's just that's just going to be a weekly gymnastics for us on where they factor in the game plan versus where the factor on special team. So there's could be weeks where they're both down and we only carry three, or there could be weeks where it's just one one versus another, or sometimes injury sort of settles that for you. But it's a week to week thing.
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You know what this Sunday is going to mean too, Bears fans with their rookie quarterback opening at home for this new season, filled with optimism for their team. You know you're going to be walking into a crazy soldier field. Are there concerns or how are you adjusting for the fact that communication is probably going to be a bit of a struggle because it will be quite loud.
Yeah.
I think that's every road we every road game in some of these stadiums. You know, it's it's particulate to be particularly loud and boisterous. I think for the opening game for all the reasons you said, But we just have to work our process. We we work our silent cadence all through training camp. We use noise, We work on our nonverbal communication. On both sides of the ball. It's obviously a lot louder for us on offense, than it is for our defense should be pretty quiet for them, But that's always a process where we continually works. It's not when we take for granted, and it's one that we actually do spend quite a bit of time on. So I feel good about where we're at there. I mean not to say it's going to be super smooth. I mean, you'd hope to not have any false starts, but it's going to be a tough environment. So we'll do our best to come out as clean as we can on the on the penalty sheet, and and hopefully we can communicate well enough to operate.
You are going to a place that is very special to the Callahan family. Dad is very much from there. I think you were born there where you know, I was born in Champagne, Okay, just Illinois Ish, but I mean I grew up. I grew up a bearsman, because that's what you know, Bears, Bulls, and black Hawks. When I was a kid, that's what we were at the University of Wisconsin. Is before my dad was in pro football, and so the only real football team I used to remember watching was was the Bears because that's what all my uncles and everybody lived in Chicago, and when I was a kid, we were down there all the time I've spent I mean, I've been to all those the zoos, the museums and up and I've been all over Chicago for a long time. And it's I have very fond memories of Chicago, even though I didn't grow up there. But yeah, my mom and dad are are Chicago is through and through, and uh, to open up at at Chicago has got to be a little cool for my dad, I think to some degree. But it's it's a great place. It's a great city, it's a great football city. It's great history there, it's a it's a fantastic organization, and it's you know, it's one that's been hungry for for what they have right now, and that's a team that people are excited to come watch. Great story about your dad during the Wisconsin Days in the Athletic at the end of last week.
It was I thought, yeah, I thought that was really cool. I don't know how many people saw it, but but I thought Joe did a really nice job researching and writing it. It was really well done. And yeah, there's some things that sometimes I still learned some things every now and again about about how he was back then. But yeah, that was a that was a wild time those Wisconsin years and all that all the things that they did to turn that program around was was it was pretty awesome. But it was really well done and really well researched by Joe rex Road there at the Athletic.
Brian Callahan, thank you so much for the time.
Always a pleasure for Amy.
Well to coach Brian Callahan. I'm Mike Keith, thanking you the OT people for joining us for the OT