DENTON, Texas – Titans assistant Payton McCollum has spent 10 years in coaching, in college and the NFL, at positions on offense and defense.
So, when Titans Coach Brian Callahan asked him if he'd be willing to coach quarterbacks for the West team at the East-West Shrine Bowl, he jumped at the chance.
The Titans, who are doing their homework on all the quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, believe it's an experience that will benefit McCollum, the team, and the quarterbacks.
"In this league, any experience is good experience," McCollum said after Sunday's practice. "And I don't view it like, 'I'm a receivers guy' or whatever. I've always viewed it as I'm a football coach, and right now my job this week is to make these quarterbacks better."
McCollum just wrapped up his first season as assistant receivers coach with the Titans, his third season coaching in the NFL, and his 10th overall season in coaching.
McCollum first met Callahan in 2016 when he was a seasonal offensive assistant for the Detroit Lions, when Callahan was the quarterbacks coach under head coach Jim Caldwell. McCollum was hired full-time by the Lions the following year, and after that he served coaching stints in college at North Carolina Central University (WRs), the University of Washington (quarterbacks), and Eastern Michigan University (offensive analyst) before returning to the NFL with the Colts in 2023 as a defensive assistant.
When Callahan got the job in Tennessee last offseason, he hired McCollum.
McCollum gives Callahan credit for mentoring him when he was just getting started as a coach, saying "he had a big impact in how I see the game." Before his time with the Lions, he'd only coached one season, as an offensive quality control coach at Campbell University.
McCollum is now spreading the wealth here at the Shrine Bowl, where he's coaching West team quarterbacks Brady Cook (Missouri), Max Brosmer (Minnesota), and Ethan Garbers (UCLA) in practices. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is also on the West squad, and while he's not taking part in practices and won't play in the game, he has been involved in meetings with teams, including a lot of time spent with the Titans.
McCollum said he's been impressed with Sanders, and all the quarterbacks.
"He's been awesome," McCollum said of Sanders. "He's a great personality, you can tell he was raised well, had really good parenting. One of the things I really like about him is he's very straightforward, he is easy to joke around with, not super tense. His presence was awesome to be around.
"He's just a very poised person, very comfortable, very appropriately relaxed."
McCollum is getting to know all the players, not just the quarterbacks, in a more relaxed setting as part of his assignment.
He's with them before, during, and after practices, on buses, and in meeting rooms.
He's working the most with the quarterbacks, of course.
"I like them all," he said of the QBs. "They've all been really good at picking it up, and they're all football smart. They've interacted well together. You can tell they've all had good college coaching. They all have a really good foundation for what we're asking them to do."
Callahan considers McCollum's role here in Texas a win across the board, and he said the payoff isn't limited to just this week.
"It's huge for (Payton) and his development, and huge for us to have him in the meeting rooms with these guys," Callahan said. "He's involved in the install process with them, and not just the quarterbacks. Just sort of all the guys he's around, you get a feel for the players, and you see them in their natural interactions instead of the buttoned-up stuff in an interview.
"To have someone in the process is really critical to help us get all the information we need. It's another set of eyes working non-stop to coach and evaluate on top of it."
