Callahan unleashes epic rant to defend Titans' toughness

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan went off during his press conference Wednesday after being asked about some questioning his team's mental and physical toughness this season.

"That's complete and total bullshit if you want my honest opinion," Callahan said, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. "These guys are tough f--kers, man, they go after it every day. They play hard as hell, and at no point have we ever put on tape at any point this season that this is a soft football team. I can't even wrap my mind around how that would even be a conversation. I mean, just because we don't win games doesn't mean we're soft."

He added: "You can ask any team that plays against us that when they come off the field, they know they played us. Yeah, that makes me relatively angry that that would be some presumption. That means you just don't watch the shit. You don't know what you're talking about, you don't know what you're looking at."

The Titans are amid a disappointing 2024 season, Callahan's first with the team. The 40-year-old joined Tennessee during the offseason after serving as the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator for multiple years.

Tennessee, which went 6-11 in 2023, ranks dead last in the AFC South with a 3-11 record despite making aggressive offseason moves, including signing receiver Calvin Ridley and trading for cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, among others.

"I'd like for you to walk in there and call one of these guys soft and see what happens, you know?" Callahan said. "This is not a soft football team at all, mentally or physically. And I think one of the things mentally that's really been impressive about the team is the way that they keep fighting through the way this season has gone. They've not shown at any point that they're not up to the task."

The sideline boss continued: "These guys come out here, and they do everything possible to win games. ... There's no possible explanation to say that this team is soft in any way, shape or form, mentally or physically. And the way that they go about their work, it's insulting to me, to them, to everyone that works here. No chance ever in hell would I ever admit that to be the case, and neither would anybody in this locker room. So you can kind of shove that one right up your ass, to be honest."

The Titans rank 27th in total points and yards this season. Defensively, Tennessee places second in yards allowed but only 29th in scoring. Callahan's outfit has also committed the second-most penalties in the NFL this year.

The Titans, who've lost three in a row, visit the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday with Mason Rudolph at quarterback over Will Levis, who was benched this week.