NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans added 10 new coaches and retained 11 others as head coach Brian Callahan builds his first coaching staff.
Those joining the staff have decades of NFL experience.
The new assistant coaches on offense are Bill Callahan, Offensive Line; Tyke Tolbert, Wide Receivers; Randy Jordan, Running Backs; Bo Hardegree, Quarterbacks; and Payton McCollum, Assistant Wide Receivers. On the defensive staff, the new coaches are Frank Bush, Linebackers; Steve Jackson, Secondary/Safeties; Tracy Rocker, Defensive Line and Ben Bloom, Outside Linebackers. Tom Jones joins the staff as Assistant to the Head Coach.
The staff also includes coaches who were on the staff last year, some in new roles – Chris Harris, Passing Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks; Justin Outten, Tight Ends; Anthony Levine Sr., Assistant Special Teams; Clinton McMillan, Assistant Defensive Line/Pass Rush Specialist; Lori Locust, Defensive Quality Control; Kylan Butler, Offensive Assistant; Matt Jones, Offensive Assistant; Luke Stocker, Offensive Assistant and from the Strength and Conditioning staff Brian Bell, Tyler Rouse and Haley Roberts.
Several spots on the coaching roster, including Special Teams Coordinator, still need to be filled. The team previously announced the additions of Dennard Wilson as Defensive Coordinator and Nick Holz as Offensive Coordinator.
Bill Callahan – Offensive Line
Bill Callahan brings 46 years of coaching experience, including 25 years in the NFL and six as a head coach (two at Oakland and four at the University of Nebraska). During his time in the NFL, he has spent 22 seasons coaching the offensive line and seven years as offensive coordinator. He has guided 14 offensive linemen to a total of 35 Pro Bowl selections.
Callahan joins the Titans after four seasons (2020-23) as the Offensive Line coach for the Cleveland Browns. During his time with the Browns, they qualified for the playoffs twice and in 2022, the team recorded the third-highest rushing total (2,490) in franchise history. In 2021, the Browns led the NFL in rushing average with a 5.09 mark, which was the highest by a Browns team since 1966.
Callahan spent five seasons (2015-19) with Washington as Offensive Line coach and added Assistant Head Coach for his final three seasons. The 2016 offense set single-season team records for yards per game (403.4), yards per play (6.40), net passing yards (4,758) and passing first downs (226). He spent three seasons (2012-14) with Dallas as Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line coach and oversaw DeMarco Murray's 1,845 rushing yards season in 2014, which led the NFL and set a franchise rushing mark. Callahan logged four years (2008-11) as Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line coach for the New York Jets.
Callahan was the Head Coach for the University of Nebraska for four seasons (2004-07) and led the Cornhuskers to the Big 12 Conference Championship game in 2006.
He spent six seasons (1998-03) with the Oakland Raiders, including his final two seasons as Head Coach. The 2002 Raiders offense was led by NFL MVP Rich Gannon and set a franchise record for total offense with an NFL-best 6,237 yards. They led the NFL in passing yards (4,689) on their way to an AFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance. His first NFL coaching experience came as the Offensive Line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles for three years (1995-97).
Callahan also has 15 years of college coaching experience and two years in the high school ranks.
Tyke Tolbert – Wide Receivers
Tyke Tolbert brings 21 years of NFL wide receiver coaching experience to the Titans. Over his career he has worked with a star-studded group of receivers, including D.J. Moore, Odell Beckham Jr., Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Lee Evans and Anquan Bolden.
He joins the Titans after two seasons (2022-23) with Chicago. Last year D.J. Moore ranked sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,364) and set career highs in all categories – receiving yards, receptions (96) and touchdowns (8).
During a four-year stint (2018-21) with the New York Giants, Tolbert worked with a prolific trio of receivers in Beckham, Sterling Shepherd and Darius Slayton. Beckham logged a 1,000-yard season (2018) in their one season together and Shepherd and Slayton had career-best marks during this window.
Prior to joining the Giants, Tolbert spent seven seasons (2011-17) as Wide Receiver coach with Denver, where the team won five consecutive division titles and Super Bowl 50. He also was a key figure in the development of Thomas and Sanders as one of the most productive duos at the time. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Thomas registered five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (2012-16) and Sanders posted three 1,000-yard seasons (2014-16) and two Pro Bowl selections under Tolbert's direction. In 2014, the duo recorded 3,023 receiving yards and 212 receptions, the most by an NFL tandem in NFL history.
Before spending one season (2010) at Carolina, Tolbert had a six-year (2004-09) run as Wide Receivers coach with Buffalo. While with the Bills, he worked with Evans, who led all NFL rookies with nine touchdown receptions and a 17.6-yard average and would post two 1,000-yard seasons in their time together. In a season with Arizona (2003), he guided Boldin to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and a then-NFL rookie record with 101 receptions for 1,377 yards.
Tolbert also brings 10 years of college coaching experience.
Randy Jordan – Running Backs
Randy Jordan has been named Running Backs coach after spending the last 10 seasons (2014-23) with the Washington Commanders. A former running back himself, Jordan spent nine seasons in the league, appearing in 122 career games with the Jaguars and Raiders.
He joined the Commanders as Running Backs coach in 2014 and added the title of Senior Offensive Assistant in 2023. Over the last two seasons, Jordan aided the development of running back Brian Robinson Jr., who surpassed 1,000 scrimmage yards (1,101) in 2023. Jordan also worked with Antonio Gibson since he entered the league in 2020. During the 2021 season, Gibson finished second in the NFC with 1,037 rushing yards.
Prior to his time at Washington, Jordan spent two seasons (2012-13) at his alma mater of North Carolina where he served as Running Backs coach in 2012 and added the title of Special Teams Coordinator in 2013. In his first season with UNC in 2012, running back Giovani Bernard led the ACC in rushing yards (1,228). Jordan was part of an offensive staff that set more than 35 school records, including total points per game and total offense.
Before his stint with the Tar Heels, Jordan spent four seasons (2008-11) with Texas A&M in the same role. He was first named Running Backs coach at the University of Nebraska in 2004 where he stayed for four years (2004-07). Following his on-field playing career with the Raiders, Jordan began his coaching career with the organization as Special Teams Assistant midway through the 2003 season.
Jordan won the NFL Unsung Hero Award and Ed Block Courage Award in 2001 after returning from a season-ending injury the prior season. Jordan served as the special teams captain for the 2002 Oakland Raiders squad that reached Super Bowl XXXVII.
Bo Hardegree - Quarterbacks
Bo Hardegree has been named Quarterbacks coach after spending the last two seasons (2022-23) with the Las Vegas Raiders. A University of Tennessee product, Hardegree brings 16 years of coaching experience to the post, including the last 10 seasons in the NFL.
Hardegree joined the Raiders as Quarterbacks coach in 2022 and was promoted to Interim Offensive Coordinator during the 2023 season. Under his tutelage as an Offensive Coordinator, fourth-round rookie Aidan O'Connell threw for 1,905 yards, 11 touchdowns and posted the third-best passer rating (83.9) among 2023 rookies. In 2022, Hardegree guided Derek Carr to his fourth career Pro Bowl after completing 305 of 502 passes for 3,522 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Prior to his time with the Raiders, he spent one season with the New England Patriots as the Quarterbacks coach, playing a key role in the development of rookie Mac Jones. Under Hardegree's guidance, Jones led all rookie quarterbacks with 3,801 passing yards and 22 touchdowns. His completion percentage of 67.6 was the second-best for a rookie quarterback in league history. The Patriots won 10 games and earned a playoff berth as Jones appeared in his first Pro Bowl.
Before he was with the Patriots, Hardegree spent two seasons (2019-20) as an Offensive Assistant with the New York Jets. Prior to joining the Jets, he spent three seasons (2016-18) as Quarterbacks coach with the Miami Dolphins. During his tenure, Hardegree worked with several quarterbacks, including Jay Cutler, Matt Moore, Brock Osweiler and Ryan Tannehill.
Prior to the Dolphins, Hardegree spent one season (2015) in Chicago as an Offensive Assistant. He began his NFL coaching career as an Offensive Quality Control coach with the Denver Broncos in 2014 while current Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan served as an Offensive Assistant that same season.
Hardegree began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Duke (2008-10), before moving on to Louisiana State where he served as a defensive coaching intern in 2011 and an offensive coaching intern for two seasons (2012-13). During his time at LSU, they won the SEC in 2011 and advanced to the BCS National Championship game in 2012.
Hardegree played quarterback at University of Tennessee, where he was a member of two SEC Eastern Division champion teams in 2004 and 2007.
Payton McCollum – Assistant Wide Receivers
Payton McCollum has been named Assistant Wide Receivers coach after spending last season as a Defensive Assistant for the Indianapolis Colts. McCollum brings nine years of coaching experience, including three in the NFL.
Prior to joining the Colts staff, McCollum served as an Offensive Analyst with Eastern Michigan for the 2022 season. McCollum was part of an offensive staff that helped the Eagles finish the season with the second-most efficient offense in the conference, completing 244 of its 391 pass attempts for a 138.2 efficiency rating. EMU also won its first bowl game since 1987.
McCollum spent two seasons with the University of Washington (2020-21) as the Quarterbacks coach. In 2020, he worked with freshman quarterback Dylan Morris who garnered honorable mention All-Pac-12 by the coaches while leading the Huskies offensive unit to average 3.36 points per drive (10th nationally, first in the Pac-12) and the Pac-12 North Division title.
In 2019, McCollum served as Wide Receivers coach at North Carolina Central University, where five different receivers tallied 20-plus receptions. Prior to North Carolina Central, McCollum spent a season (2018) at the University of North Carolina as an Analyst.
McCollum began his NFL coaching career as an Offensive Coaching Assistant for two seasons (2016-17) with the Detroit Lions. He worked primarily with the wide receivers. In 2016, for the first time in franchise history and only the fifth time in NFL history, the Lions had five players each record 50-plus receptions, as the Lions clinched a playoff berth that season. In 2017 the receiver group was the only one in the NFL to have two 1,000-yard receivers (Marvin Jones Jr. – 1,101 and Golden Tate – 1,003).
Prior to Detroit, McCollum served as an Offensive Quality Control coach at Campbell University in 2015. McCollum got his start in coaching as a volunteer assistant at Mount Tabor (North Carolina) High School in 2013.
Frank Bush - Linebackers
Frank Bush has been named Linebackers coach. A veteran of 32 NFL coaching campaigns and a former Houston Oilers draft pick, Bush returns to the organization after spending the last three seasons (2021-23) as the Atlanta Falcons Linebackers coach.
Prior to joining Atlanta's staff, Bush spent two seasons (2019-20) with the New York Jets as Assistant Head Coach Defense/Linebackers coach and was promoted to Defensive Coordinator for the final four games of the 2020 season. Bush served two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, as the team's Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers coach from 2017-18 and Linebackers coach for the Rams organization for four seasons (2013-16).
Bush re-joined the Titans organization's coaching staff as Linebackers coach from 2011-12. Before his stint in Tennessee, he spent four seasons with the Houston Texans (2007-10), the first two as a Senior Defensive Assistant, working primarily with the defensive line, before serving as the team's Defensive Coordinator (2009-10). During his time in Houston, he saw the emergence of defensive end Mario Williams and linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing as Pro Bowl players, with Cushing earning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2009.
Before joining the Texans, Bush spent three seasons (2004-06) with the Arizona Cardinals as the Linebackers coach, adding the Assistant Head Coach title in 2006.
During his coaching tenure with the Denver Broncos (1995-2003), Bush earned two Super Bowl rings (XXXII and XXXIII), serving several different roles, including Special Teams coach (2001-03), Secondary/Nickel coach (2000) and Linebackers coach (1995-99).
Following his on-field playing career with the Oilers (1985-86), the North Carolina State product joined the team as a college scout for five seasons (1987-91) before transitioning to the coaching staff, initially as the team's Linebackers coach (1992) and then as the Defensive Quality Control/Linebackers coach (1993-94).
Steve Jackson – Secondary/Safeties
Steve Jackson has been named Secondary/Safties coach after spending the last two seasons (2022-23) with the Atlanta Falcons. A former Houston Oilers draft pick who played nine seasons for the organization, Jackson is entering his 21st season coaching in the NFL.
He joined the Falcons as a Senior Offensive Assistant in 2022 and transitioned to coaching the secondary last season. Jackson came to Atlanta after serving as the Secondary/Cornerbacks coach for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2020-21. Under Jackson's guidance, Cincinnati's defensive backs limited opposing quarterbacks to a 74.9 passer rating over their four-game 2021 postseason run, en route to an appearance in Super Bowl LVI.
Prior to his time in Cincinnati, Jackson spent two seasons (2018-19) with the New York Jets where he served as the team's Assistant Defensive Backs coach. Before his stint in New York, Jackson spent two seasons (2016-17) as the Assistant Secondary coach for the Titans. In 2017, he helped safety Kevin Byard record a career-high eight interceptions – tied for the most in the NFL that season.
Jackson spent one season (2013) with the Detroit Lions as an Assistant Secondary coach after spending eight campaigns (2004-11) with Washington as Safeties coach, where he also earned the title of Defensive Passing Game Coordinator from 2006-09. The Purdue product started his coaching career as the Safeties coach for the Buffalo Bills from 2001-03.
Ben Bloom – Outside Linebackers
Ben Bloom has been named Outside Linebackers coach after spending the last four seasons (2020-23) with the Cleveland Browns. Bloom is entering his 15st season coaching in the NFL.
He re-joined the Browns as a Senior Defensive Assistant in 2020 and was promoted to Run Game Coordinator from 2021-22 before transitioning to Defensive Line coach last season. Myles Garrett, the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the Pro Bowl and Associated Press All-Pro team all four seasons, earning first team honors in 2020-21 and 2023 and second team honors in 2022. Garrett set the Browns franchise single-season sack record with 16 in 2021 and tied the mark in 2022.
Bloom came to Cleveland after spending nine campaigns (2011-19) with the Dallas Cowboys. He served a variety of coaching roles in Dallas, including Linebackers (2018-19), Assistant Coach/Special Projects (2016-17), Defensive Ends (2015), Assistant Defensive Line/Defensive Ends (2014) and Defensive Quality Control/Assistant Linebackers (2011-13).
The Tufts University product entered the NFL with the Browns in 2009 as a Team Operations Assistant/Quality Control coach before becoming a Defensive Quality Control coach in 2010.
Bloom started his coaching career in the college ranks at Tufts (2005-07) and Harvard (2008).
Tracy Rocker – Defensive Line
Tracy Rocker has been named Defensive Line coach. A 32-year coaching veteran, Rocker returns to the organization after spending the last three seasons (2021-23) as the Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Line coach.
In 2022, Rocker was a member of an Eagles coaching staff that guided the team to an appearance in Super Bowl LVII. The second-ranked total defense (301.5 ypg) tied for the third-most sacks (70, tied) in NFL history. In addition, Philadelphia became the first team to have four different players with double-digit sacks in the same season.
Prior to joining Philadelphia's staff, Rocker spent seven seasons coaching the defensive line in the collegiate ranks, including stints at South Carolina (2020), Tennessee (2017-19) and Georgia (2014-16). During his 24-year collegiate coaching career which also included stops at his alma mater Auburn (2009-10), Mississippi (2008), Arkansas (2003-07), Cincinnati (2002), Troy State (1997-2001) and West Alabama (1994-96), Rocker mentored numerous NFL Draft picks, including six All-Americans and two national award winners.
Rocker first entered the NFL coaching scene as a defensive line coach with the Titans from 2011-13. In 2012, Tennessee produced the 10th-most sacks (39) in the league, while defensive end Derrick Morgan had a breakout year, recording 59 tackles, 23 quarterback hits and 6.5 sacks. In 2011, Rocker led a young group that included Karl Klug, who ranked first among rookie defensive tackles in sacks (7.0, fourth among NFL defensive tackles), as well as rookie defensive end Jurrell Casey, who registered the most tackles (74) by any Titans defensive lineman that season.
Rocker began his coaching career as the defensive coordinator at Auburn High School from 1992-93. In addition to his full-time coaching experience, he spent two summers working with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2006) and Indianapolis Colts (2001) as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Program.
Rocker was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004. A two-time All-American defensive tackle at Auburn, he was honored with the Lombardi Award (nation's top college football player) and Outland Trophy (nation's top interior lineman) in 1988, becoming the first player in SEC history to earn both accolades.
Tom Jones – Assistant to the Head Coach
Jones joins the Titans as the Assistant to the Head Coach, after spending 25 years with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. His final two seasons with the Raiders were as Vice President of Football Operations/Assistant to the Head Coach. Prior to his promotion, he was the Director of Team Operations. Jones joined the Raiders as an intern in 1996. A Bay Area native, he earned an undergraduate degree from Chico State and a Master's in sports management from the University of San Francisco.
