The Cleveland Browns may get back RB Nick Chubb for 2024. But they’re losing a big piece of what makes their run game go. Long-time and revered offensive line coach Bill Callahan is reportedly leaving the Browns to join his son Brian Callahan, the Tennessee Titans new head coach.
As beat writer Mary Kay Cabot noted on Twitter Thursday, it’s the first time a son has ever hired his dad.
Bill Callahan, 67, has been coaching football since 1980. And he’s been with the Browns since 2020. In his four years with the team, Cleveland finished with a top-five run game twice and a top-11 unit three times. It wasn’t until 2023, when Chubb was lost for the season following a serious knee injury against Pittsburgh, that the running game struggled, ranked 26th in yards per carry this year.
Callahan’s ability to develop offensive linemen has been widely respected and he’s regarded as one of the top o-line coaches in football. He helped turn OG Wyatt Teller into a three-time Pro Bowler, C Ethan Pocic into a solid pivot, and OG Joel Bitonio made two All-Pro teams under Callahan. Without Callahan, the Browns line could take a step back next season. Their line is getting older, Bitonio 32, Teller 30 by the fall, and RT Jack Conklin 30 in August and dealing with repeated injuries, including missing nearly all of 2023 with a knee injury.
Sans the Steelers, the AFC North coaching staffs have lost key names this offseason. The Cincinnati Bengals lost Brian Callahan, their offensive coordinator, to the Titans. The Baltimore Ravens were pillaged with DC Mike Macdonald the Seattle Seahawks’ new head coach, DBs Coach Dennard Wilson now the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator, and long-time front office executive Joe Hortiz the Los Angeles Chargers’ GM. To date, Pittsburgh’s only lost Offensive Assistant Glenn Thomas, who left to reunite with Matt Rhule at Nebraska.
Of course, that could be a quiet statement on how the league views the Steelers’ coaching staff but the point is, they won’t fight the turnover the rest of the division will.
