Cam Ward and the Challenge of Being the First Pick: Will Brian Callahan Avoid the Fate of Other Coaches?
Nashville, the pressure is palpable. Cam Ward, the first draft pick, shows an expression of frustration. The Tennessee Titans’ offense, led by Ward, has just completed an August 3 practice that left much to be desired. Coach Brian Callahan, visibly disappointed, made his discontent known with strong words. Minutes later, Ward and Callahan were seen conversing in the center of the field, gesturing with their hands in an animated exchange. They discussed the causes of the errors for about ten minutes. The difficulties did not fall solely on Ward, 23 years old, who had had a productive performance in the previous two days.Developing a first overall pick is no easy task. Frank Reich, tasked with preparing Bryce Young, the first overall pick of 2023 with the Carolina Panthers, was fired after eleven games. A year later, third-year coach Matt Eberflus lasted twelve games with Caleb Williams, who arrived with the label of “generational talent”.Callahan promised that Ward’s success “will not always be linear”.
Brian Callahan
The road back to contention is difficult. For Callahan, the dubious past of the first-round rookies will serve as a prologue.“I think the old saying is pressure is a bit of a privilege,” Callahan said. “You get the opportunity to work with a great player when you pick him at the top of the draft.”
Brian Callahan
Reich acknowledged that the Panthers started the Young experiment with roster challenges, due in part to the pre-draft trade of 2023 that gave them the first pick. Carolina gave up veteran receiver DJ Moore and first and second-round picks in 2023 and 2024. Carolina had experienced significant changes before the 2023 season. The roster wasn’t a finished product even before the trade, which meant Young’s rookie year wouldn’t feature a true number one receiver threat or a stellar running game. Reich saw that the transition to position Young for success “would take longer.” The lack of a shared vision among the coaching staff proved more difficult to predict. Reich named Thomas Brown, a rising coach from the Los Angeles Rams, as his offensive coordinator. The plan was to combine Sean McVay’s Rams system with Reich’s background and offensive philosophy. Reich, who called the plays for Young, realized at some point between spring and training camp that using McVay’s terminology while calling the plays himself “wasn’t going to feel right,” so he made adjustments. A source from the team felt that Reich never “really bought into” Brown’s game plan; another believed the staff had “too many cooks in the kitchen” preparing Young, who had a 1-9 record in 10 starts and ranked 29th in the NFL in Total QBR with a 32.0 rating when Reich was fired on November 27. The situation didn’t improve afterward, as Young finished with a 2-14 record as a starter and finished second-to-last among QBR qualifiers.“I felt the challenge of this, but I wasn’t worried and we felt it was going to work,” Reich told ESPN. “We have good coaches; Bryce is a good player. We have good players and we will make good draft picks. [Owner David] Tepper will invest in the team and make the moves”.
Frank Reich
“I don’t know if that ended up being fair to Bryce,” Reich said about the system combination. “It wasn’t because of Thomas. He brought an ‘A’ game every day. Me and the other guys who were with me, we were doing the same thing. In many ways, we put it together as best we could. It probably made it a little harder on Bryce.”
Frank Reich
Callahan’s staff will need to put Ward in a position to succeed in a way that Carolina couldn’t do with Young.“I’m trying to play as much as I can for Tennessee with those three guys at the helm,” he said. “They constantly give me feedback even when I don’t want feedback. I feel blessed to have those three in the same room with me. They push me to be great and I want to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. It would unlock everything.”
Cam Ward
A source from the Panthers’ team said that Young developed bad habits with footwork, sloppy fundamentals, and overall preparation in his season with Reich’s staff. Young averaged around 33 pass attempts per game behind a poor offensive line that allowed 62 sacks, making Young the second-most sacked quarterback in the league in 2023. Reich said he now felt Young had the mental fortitude to handle criticism, and even if he corrected mistakes, Reich admitted that “Young was getting beat up, so I wasn’t going to be too critical of him.” As a former NFL quarterback, Reich said he understood the sometimes fragile psychology of the position. It’s something Callahan and his staff will have to consider as they determine how hard to push with Ward.“There’s a saying that organizations fail with quarterbacks more than quarterbacks fail on their own,” Titans assistant general manager Dave Zeigler said.
Dave Zeigler
“Learning the professional game… defenses are much better. There are no easy games,” Reich said. “You have to earn every completed pass, every first down, every touchdown, every win. The ultimate formula for success is a great quarterback play and a great defense. But I also think that if you have a legitimate number one guy who is special, I think at first you want a couple of weapons [that] can show how special he is. And obviously you have to protect him.”
Frank Reich
Ward’s communicative relationship with his technical staff is another mark in his favor, one that could help him avoid the kind of problematic saga that Williams experienced as a rookie in Chicago.“The work ethic thing is legitimate,” Callahan said about a quarterback who went from a lightly recruited FCS player at Incarnate Word to a Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami and the eventual first overall pick.
Brian Callahan
A source with direct knowledge of Williams’ predraft process said that Williams’ research mission on his new team soured him on Waldron, who was the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks before joining Chicago in January 2024. Among the main concerns, the source said, were whether the personalities would fit and how Waldron would use him. Like Brown, Waldron came from the Rams’ coaching tree, which prioritizes the running game and play action, considered good for young quarterbacks. Also on the 2024 Chicago staff was Brown, hired after Reich’s staff in Carolina was dismantled. But the Bears discovered early on that the combination of Waldron and Eberflus wouldn’t be strong enough for Williams. As a team source said, the staff projected the feeling of, “We’ll figure it out, he’s a rookie,” while more direct tutoring on the basics of quarterback play was needed. It’s also notable that the Bears didn’t have another veteran on the roster for Williams to lean on, which several sources found problematic. Williams told Wickersham that he had to watch the game film alone, without the guidance of the staff, which upset some members of Eberflus’ staff who saw accountability issues in that statement. But rookie seasons are about survival, and quarterbacks need support systems to stay afloat. During the season, Williams began to struggle with some of the basics, such as finding easy passes in the midfield or smoothly transitioning from the play call in the huddle to the line of scrimmage without problems. Undoubtedly, many rookies struggle with this, and not all rookies record 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six respectable interceptions in their first season. Regardless, Williams’ transition from Lincoln Riley’s heavy shotgun system at USC was considered a major undertaking in NFL circles, and one that took Arizona’s Kyler Murray, also a former No. 1 overall pick, time to master. As one AFC executive noted, Williams’ tendency to make plays based on raw talent rather than playing on time and within the structure of an offense raised concerns about his ability to succeed in year one.“Chicago is the place where quarterbacks go to die,” Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, told ESPN’s Seth Wickersham.
Carl Williams
“This wasn’t going to go well with the OC, and I think they realized that early on,” the executive said. “I just thought [Williams] never saw the field well and it showed.”
AFC Executive
In Chicago, Eberflus fired Waldron 17 days before being fired himself. The Bears’ offseason task was to find a coach who could optimize Williams’ skills, and they ultimately landed on one of the NFL’s most popular offensive coordinators, Ben Johnson of the Lions. Bears general manager Ryan Poles diplomatically acknowledged the philosophical changes under Johnson. Poles classified Johnson’s coaching of Williams as “relentless, especially with the fine-tuning of the nuances of the position”.“It’s been the same route concepts,” Ward noted after rookie minicamp on the similarities to Miami’s offense. “A little different footwork, but all that comes with time and preparation. I have two good coaches that continue to motivate me every day in Coach Callahan and Coach Bo, so I think I have a good group of guys around me to help.”
Cam Ward
Poles said he learned a lot about the possible pitfalls of working with a rookie quarterback, a wisdom that Callahan and the Titans might want to consider.“Before it was a little more, ‘¿How can we just plug him in to this first year?'”, Poles said. “This [season] is like, ‘We have to establish your foundation, and you really don’t have a choice.’ It’s tough love, and I think he was looking for that”.
Ryan Poles
“It’s definitely a case-by-case basis and what the foundations are,” Poles said. “I would say that relationship [is key], that compatibility piece between the quarterback and the coach, the balance between, ‘Okay, we’re going to defer to the rookie and make him feel comfortable’ versus, ‘There are some tough things we have to go through and you’re going to feel uncomfortable, but we’re going to push you through that.'”
Ryan Poles
Callahan saw some of those points in that difficult practice earlier this month, when the tasks included almost exclusively third-down work and the defense disguised blitzes to confuse the quarterback. That day was ugly, but the next day, Ward responded with a solid performance. One reason: Ward’s otherworldly drive. Callahan said Ward is in the building every day between 4:30 and 5 a.m. and brings teammates with him. The gym is now packed early, which is a change from last year and one for which Ward has been a catalyst. Former All-Pro wide receiver Tyler Lockett said he signed with Tennessee because “he wanted to play with Cam,” and he delights in the opportunity to connect on improvised plays outside the pocket, an area in which both players excel.“Certain things you have to do as an NFL quarterback,” Callahan said. “It’s very different from college: you have to figure out where the blind spots are. Where are those spots and how do you help present what that looks like?”.
Brian Callahan
“It’s the second play,” Lockett said about what he learned after years of running plays off-script with Russell Wilson in Seattle. “There’s the first play, which is everyone run their routes and the quarterback go through his progressions, and the second play is being able to run around and get open and have awareness of where everyone is.”
Tyler Lockett
While developing that style, the Titans must also find ways to win games with a roster that has modestly improved, in addition to selecting two first-round offensive linemen, the Titans have also acquired left tackle Dan Moore Jr., wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and running back Tony Pollard in the previous two free agent cycles, but they are unlikely to compete for a championship in 2025. Deepening the intrigue is an organization that has faced its share of turmoil after dismissing a key figure in three consecutive cycles: General Manager Jon Robinson in December 2022, Coach Mike Vrabel in January 2024, and Robinson’s replacement, Ran Carthon, in January 2025. Lately, the organization’s timeline resembles scribbles in a children’s coloring book. The franchise hired Chad Brinker from Green Bay as assistant general manager in February 2023, a month after hiring Carthon as GM, only to promote both figures after the 2023 season, naming Brinker president of football operations and Carthon vice president. A year later, Tennessee owner Amy Adams Strunk fired Carthon on January 7, then turned to Brinker to fix the problem. Brinker chose Mike Borgonzi, a veteran lieutenant from Kansas City, as GM. Both Borgonzi and Brinker come from places that value longevity, which requires patience. It was considered to completely clean out the house and send Callahan on his way along with Carthon, multiple sources from the Titans confirmed. Callahan and Carthon had a close relationship, and having the first overall pick gave Tennessee the opportunity to bring in a new general manager, coach, and rookie quarterback at the same time. But the front office took an honest look at the talent on the roster and factored that into Callahan’s record in his first season. The front office didn’t lose sight of the fact that Callahan was one of the most sought-after coaching candidates in the league when the Titans hired him.“You want Cam to grow on his own and be his own style of player,” Callahan said.
Brian Callahan
Brinker’s role in the overall team landscape cannot be underestimated. In its simplest form: Brinker’s job is to plan the next 10 years of the Titans, Borgonzi for the next three to five years, and Callahan for the next game.“We wanted to give him that opportunity to grow as a head football coach,” Brinker told ESPN. “We feel another year to grow into that and we’ll need to see that growth. We believe in Brian and we believe he’s going to get there. That’s why he was retained.”
Chad Brinker
The feeling in the field during Tennessee’s training camp is that Callahan has good support and that modest progress could be enough to keep his job beyond this year, depending on how that progress looks. “He was in an incredibly difficult situation last year,” said a team source. And team officials have noted that Callahan has shown more vocal leadership in the second year. The team’s objective is clear: simply improve.“Our structure is unique, but it’s not abnormal,” Brinker said. “The way we’re structured is that Amy wanted a football executive. So, I report to Amy. Mike reports to me, and the head coach reports to Mike. If there’s any kind of dispute that we just can’t resolve, we’re going to get in the room, we’re going to talk about it, and we’re going to work together.”
Chad Brinker
All this is easy to say in August. November and December are when a homeowner’s patience will be tested if the season has taken a disappointing turn and the fans’ apathy is affecting the bottom line. The pressure also falls on Ward, but he is confident that he will not be affected by it, and believes that his coach will be right in his corner.“I’m really not a fan of expectations. I want to see growth,” Borgonzi said. “I want to see competition and discipline and start to come together as a team. Are we getting better?”
Mike Borgonzi
“[Callahan] is going to put me in the best position to succeed,” Ward said.
Cam Ward
Callahan relishes the opportunity to work with what he hopes will be NFL greatness. Developing a talented quarterback from scratch is “exciting,” he said, and “what you hope for.” Rival teams see work to be done. An NFL team executive who has scouted Ward this preseason said he is a “very talented thrower” but “struggles to read defenses against pressure” and “likes to hold onto the ball,” similar criticisms that Williams faced in Chicago last year. The difference is that Williams is widely considered the better passer. Callahan’s plan is to be consistent with Ward through triumph and turbulence, knowing that both labels can be fleeting. Sometimes, the positive is a byproduct of teammates making the quarterback look good with a brilliant block or a receiver taking a 60-yard screen pass. Sometimes, an interception is not the quarterback’s fault. Ward seems comfortable with the responsibility required in all of this. Ward’s numbers in his second preseason start were mediocre (2 of 7, 42 yards), but the highlight throw was a beautiful deep shot to receiver Van Jefferson, placing the ball precisely between three defenders. Jefferson dropped the pass. Ward said after the game that he needed to put that ball more in Jefferson’s chest than force the receiver to stretch to catch the ball. Ward is hitting all the right notes. What he wants in return is continuity of the organization around him.“You don’t want to put wins and losses on a rookie quarterback, but obviously we want to win football games,” Callahan said. “When you look back at the success or failure of a rookie year, you look at Jayden Daniels’ year and say it was a success. You look at Caleb and say it probably wasn’t. But it’s all based on the record. Well, Caleb did a lot of good things, as did Jayden. The teams are different. It’s hard to compare those guys. But you see the standards of how it’s supposed to look.”
Brian Callahan
“You see it with the best quarterbacks out there: Tom Brady, he had stability,” Ward said. “[Lamar Jackson], he had stability, [Pat Mahomes], he had stability. I think a lot of guys who have stability in the NFL can have long-term success.” “You see it with the best quarterbacks out there: Tom Brady, he had stability,” Ward said. “[Lamar Jackson], he had stability, [Pat Mahomes], he had stability. I think a lot of guys who have stability in the NFL can have long-term success.”
