Brian Callahan became the first NFL head coach of the 2025 season to be fired when the Tennessee Titans dismissed him on Monday, only a few weeks into his second season with the team.

The struggling Titans, featuring No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward, have had a rough beginning to the season, which worsened with a dismal 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

And at 1-5 through the first six weeks of the season, the franchise announced that it had decided to ‘make a change at head coach.’   

‘We appreciate Brian’s contribution to the Titans and the Tennessee community during his time as head coach. We thank him and his family for representing the Tennessee Titans admirably.’

The team, anticipated to transition to a new $2.1 billion domed stadium in 2027, expressed its commitment to developing a ‘sustainable, winning football program.’

‘Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that meets a standard we are not currently achieving, and we are dedicated to making the tough decisions needed to reach and uphold that standard,’ the statement continued.

General manager Mike Borgonzi, controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk, and the rest of the team’s leadership will now commence the search for the next head coach. An interim head coach has yet to be appointed.

Callahan, 41, had been at the helm in Music City for just 23 games, amassing a miserable record of 4-19 during that brief period.

The coach had clearly been feeling the heat following Sunday’s loss as he called out quarterback Ward, who the team had selected with this year’s No 1 draft pick. 

‘I am incredibly discouraged by the outcome,’ the coach said Sunday. ‘We felt good coming into the game. To not be able to perform well on offense and not be able to score any points and then lose the game is disappointing. 

‘And we all gotta be better, Cam’s a part of that too, Cam’s gotta play better football as well. We gotta coach better, we gotta play better, all those things.’

Yet, Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons issued a damning verdict of the sentiment from the locker room on Sunday, claiming the team had one of its worst weeks of practice heading into the game. 

‘In this league, you have to learn how to stack wins,’ Simmons said, via Buck Reasing of 104.5 The Zone. ‘To be able to carry that momentum over — it started at practice. If I’m being honest, this was one of our worst weeks of practice. Came out flat Thursday and things like that — sometimes things carry over. In this league, you have to prove it every week and reprove it.’

Amid mounting pressure following a 41-20 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts, during which fans had chanted ‘fire Callahan,’ the head coach had relinquished play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree. 

However, that didn’t help measures as the team went on to suffer a shutout 26-0 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 4. It was the first time the Titans had been held scoreless since October 2019. 

‘We’re 0-4. At this point, we have nothing to lose,’ Ward said at the time. ‘We’ve dropped a quarter of our (expletive) games and have yet to do anything. We have to lock in, especially myself. In all three phases, we have to play together and have not done it this year yet.’ 

Callahan’s exit marks the first head coach axing of the 2025 NFL season with New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn miraculously still holding down his job in the Big Apple, despite failing to clinch a win. 

The Titans face the 4-2 New England Patriots and former head coach Mike Vrabel at Nissan Stadium on Sunday. 

Vrabel, Callahan’s predecessor, was also axed by the Titans in January 2024 after six seasons with the team. He led Tennessee to two division crowns and three playoff appearances, including a conference championship game in the 2019 season, and was named 2021 NFL Coach of the Year. 

Before arriving in Tennessee, Callahan served as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Callahan is the son of Bill Callahan, a longtime NFL assistant and former head coach of the Raiders and the University of Nebraska. Bill was hired by his son to coach the Titans’ offensive line in 2024.