NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans conducted virtual interviews with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka on Friday, their first conversations with candidates for their head coaching vacancy.
The Titans fired Mike Vrabel on Tuesday after six seasons. Vrabel, who has a defensive background, won just six of his final 24 games with the team.
Callahan and Kafka are both former college quarterbacks who have worked closely with two of the NFL’s best current passers.
Callahan, with 14 years of experience in the NFL, has been the Bengals’ offensive coordinator since 2019 and is credited with aiding in the development of Joe Burrow.
The son of former NFL head coach Bill Callahan, he has been a frequent target in recent head coaching searches. He interviewed with several teams last year before opting to stay in Cincinnati.
Callahan played at UCLA and began his NFL career as a coaching assistant for the Denver Broncos in 2010 before being promoted to offensive quality control coach in 2011 and then offensive assistant in 2013. He was quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions from 2016-17, and then for the Raiders in 2018 before joining the Bengals.
Kafka played at Northwestern University and started his coaching career there as a graduate assistant. He joined Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs staff in 2017 as a quality control coach.
Kafka was promoted to quarterbacks coach of the Chiefs in 2018 and remained in that role until 2021, working with Patrick Mahomes. He has spent the past two years on Giants coach Brian Daboll’s staff as offensive coordinator.
Beginning on Jan. 22, teams may hold in-person interviews with coaches whose teams are no longer in the playoffs.