Brian Callahan on coaching No. 1 overall pick: I’ve done it before

As the Titans ready to — presumably — select Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday night, the franchise does have someone with recent experience in coaching a top quarterback.

Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan noted his experience with Cincinnati and Joe Burrow during Tuesday's pre-draft press conference. Callahan was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator when they selected Burrow in 2020, holding the position from 2019-2023 when he was hired to take over the Titans.

“I think one of the things unique to my journey in this profession is I’ve done it before, too,” Callahan said. “I’ve been a part of a young quarterback, No. 1 overall pick, coming into a team that picked No. 1 for a reason. We weren’t good enough last year, so we’re picking first, and we have a chance to add a really good player with the first overall pick — whoever it ends up being.

“But there is a lot of things that I learned from that lesson of when you bring in a player like that that’ll help us in the process. So, I think we’ve added the right players in free agency. I think we have good young players here. We’ve got to do a lot better job coaching, first and foremost, and put ourselves in some better positions. So, those things to me are all part of the equation, and I feel good about where we’re at, where we’re headed, and how we’re going to get there.”

To that end, Callahan said he doesn’t feel any extra pressure to make sure things go as planned with a first overall pick like Ward.

“I think the old adage is pressure is a bit of privilege,” Callahan said. “You get a chance to work with a great player when you pick him at the top of the draft. If it so happens to be a quarterback, then that doesn’t change anything for me — how I go about my job, what I do on a day-to-day basis, what I believe about the development of the position. None of that changes.

“It’s exciting. It’s what you hope for. It’s what you want as a coach, is those types of players on your roster — you want to coach them, you want to be a part of that journey. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of a few of them. It’s exciting, and so there’s nothing added to what already is the job. That’s just part of it. And I’m fully aware of the expectation that comes along with that, and I embrace it. I’m excited for that to happen.”