NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mike McCoy is leaning on his years of NFL coaching experience, including four as head coach of the then-San Diego Chargers, as he takes over for a friend as the Tennessee Titans' interim coach.
“It’s invaluable," McCoy said Tuesday. "Because nobody knows until you’re in this role. You think you’re ready. You're not ready. There’s so many things that come up on a daily basis that you have to deal with.”
McCoy took over Monday after the Titans fired Brian Callahan in his second season with Tennessee currently 1-5 and 4-19 overall during his tenure.
McCoy, 53, joined the team in March as a senior offensive assistant only to replace the man who brought him to Tennessee. McCoy was the only true option to replace Callahan with special teams coordinator John Fassel having only three games as the Rams' interim coach in 2016.
Getting another chance as an NFL head coach was not on McCoy's mind.
“This was the last thing I thought I’d be doing,” McCoy said.
The only other coach with NFL head coaching experience with the Titans was Bill Callahan — never a possible replacement once his son was fired. McCoy said Tuesday only that the Titans “parted ways” with the offensive line coach.
The Titans updated the coaching roster removing Bill Callahan's name during McCoy's news conference. Scott Fuchs and Matt Jones will oversee the offensive line, while quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree will continue calling offensive plays during games.
McCoy was 41 when he coached his first season with the then-San Diego Chargers in 2013. McCoy went 27-37 in his four seasons. They reached the playoffs his first season and won a wild-card game on the road before losing 23 of his last 32 games with McCoy fired an hour after the 2016 season finale.
He was an offensive coordinator for Denver in 2017, the same job he had between 2009 and 2012. He was Arizona’s offensive coordinator in 2018. McCoy took a break after that job to spend time with his family.
McCoy spent the past three seasons in Jacksonville as the Jaguars quarterbacks coach. He worked with Trevor Lawrence who put together consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons and combined for 8,129 yards, which ranked fifth in the NFL in that span. Lawrence ranked 10th with 46 touchdown passes.
While in Jacksonville, McCoy worked with now-Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz who was the Jaguars’ passing game coordinator in 2023 before coming to Tennessee in 2024.
Now McCoy has 11 games left to show what he can do. Since the Titans went 12-5 in 2021, earning the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the franchise has won fewer games in each following season and now need two wins to at least match last year’s 3-14 record.
He also has to work with rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick.
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Ward has been sacked more than any other NFL quarterback through six starts. Ward ranks 22nd in the league with 1,101 yards passing. He has only three touchdown passes with four interceptions and a 67.3 passer rating. Worse, Ward is completing only 55% of his passes.
McCoy said he's worked with some of the best quarterbacks in football including Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers. The top focus is making sure the coaches know what fits Ward best to help the rookie be more efficient and have more success.
“It’s not just him,” McCoy said of Ward. "There’s 10 other guys in the field with him that have got to do their jobs better too.”
McCoy's first game Sunday will be against former Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel and his New England Patriots (4-2). Callahan's firing has been seen as a pre-emptive move trying to avoid the impression that controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk made a move after a likely loss to her former employee.
Vrabel told New England reporters on Monday that his return to Tennessee will be very interesting.
“Having spent six years there or seven years there, I think it’ll be nice to see some people that I haven’t seen in a few years that helped us win, players and staff,” Vrabel said. “But we’ve got a huge job here to do as we prepare for them.”
Roster moves
The Titans placed rookie OLB Oluwafemi Oladejo on injured reserve Tuesday. The second-round pick out of UCLA couldn't finish last week's loss to the Raiders with what was called a calf injury. They signed OLB Ali Gaye to the roster from the practice squad.
They also signed OT John Ojukwu back to the practice squad and waived TE Thomas Odukoya.
AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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