Titans embrace Callahan’s competition hoping to boost performance, accountability and wins

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Drop a ball, lose points. A red zone touchdown catch isn’t worth six but still nets points. Jump offside earns a deduction. Lose a wide receiver in coverage also hurts.

The Tennessee Titans don’t kick off coach Brian Callahan’s second season until Sept. 7 at Denver. With the Titans going 3-14 and losing the final six games, Callahan made some changes all designed to help Tennessee win more in 2025.

The biggest new offseason feature is an internal competition.

Callahan broke up the Titans into eight teams with a captain and assistant with rankings updated daily. Teams earn - or lose - points for what they do particularly on the field. For pro athletes, that’s all they needed to hear.

Outside linebacker Dre'Mont Jones, an offseason free agent signee going into his seventh NFL season, said Wednesday that the Titans are "100%" bought into Callahan's offseason competition. Jones said everything they do is a competition, keeping energy high.

"We need that competition," Jones said. "We have a young football team. We need to keep that edge and that competitive (approach) throughout the whole entire offseason leading into the season."

Tennessee lost six games in Callahan's debut season by eight points or fewer. Combined with a roster stocked with 48 new players, this competition is designed to have the Titans hold each other accountable for mistakes including turnovers, penalties and mental errors that prove so costly in an NFL season.

Callahan knows this won’t show results that matter until September and October at the earliest. This is all part of his focus on doing everything possible for the Titans to be better.

"A lot of it was kind of through this offseason program that we developed and how do we best win football games? And how do I best put our team in position to do that? How do I coach that better? And how do I do a better job from a leadership perspective for our players and our staff?" Callahan said.

Jones is on a team captained by running back Tony Pollard who likes how Callahan also mixed up assignments in the locker room. No longer are position groups sitting together. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley is next to rookie quarterback Cam Ward.

"You got to talk to different guys, get to know people throughout the locker room,” said Pollard, who now has cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and defensive lineman Keondre Coburn to the right. “So it's just, it's a great thing just connecting with the whole team."

That talking isn’t done just inside the locker room. Part of the schedule includes time for each group to get to know each other better by discussing four H’s: history, heroes, hopes and heartbreaks.

“That's just a great thing just learning backstories, what guys have been through and what they've had to overcome to be where they are now," Pollard said.

Callahan hasn’t shared what the rewards will be for the winners. It doesn’t matter.

Linebacker Cody Barton, who signed a three-year deal in March, joked that he heard winners got a car and asked for that to be confirmed. A pat on the back also works.

Right guard Kevin Zeitler is another newcomer going into his 14th NFL season. He said every NFL team has its own approach to the offseason program with some business-like, others "super competitive and fiery" with others making it fun.

“Having an extra competition throughout the day to be more on your details. … it makes it more fun," Zeitler said.

Callahan said Treylon Burks, the Titans’ 18th pick overall in 2022 as part of the A.J. Brown trade, is doing more in his rehab from a partially torn ACL that limited him to five games and four catches last season. Burks is doing more than Callahan expected at the beginning of the offseason program.

Burks is doing more individual drills and routes. Callahan said the hope is Burks will be cleared by the start of training camp.