NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans stopped Brian Callahan from moving on to examine opportunities in Carolina and Atlanta, and are working toward an agreement Monday night for him to become their next head coach, I’ve confirmed.

The Cincinnati offensive coordinator who’s worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow will come to Nashville expecting to shape Will Levis into a franchise quarterback and lift the Titans’ offense to new heights.

His father, Bill, is a successful offensive line coach currently with the Browns who was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2002-03 and interim coach in Washington in 2019. But Cleveland would have to let the senior Callahan out of his contract to be part of his son's staff or the Titans would have to be lining him up with a promotion offensive coordinator to get permission to speak with him.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The next coach is typically opposite the guy he replaces.

A hard-nosed defensive alpha generally gets replaced by a softer, more agreeable guy with an offensive background.

The Titans moved into the next phase of their search for Mike Vrabel’s replacement Monday, with in-person interviews of coaches under contract and not still alive in the playoffs now allowed.

Reports say Brian Callahan of the Bengals and Thomas Brown of the Panthers will visit with the Titans right away, the first candidates who had remote interviews to now meet with team executives in person. They cannot talk to Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald or Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn until next week, with their teams either out of the playoffs or on the bye week ahead of the Super Bowl.

I’ve been thinking about the qualities the team needs the next guy in the head coach’s offense to have.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Zach Piller said recently on The Zone in Nashville that Mike Munchak is willing to return to the Titans as their offensive line coach and I can add more details.

I learned this in early December when Mike Vrabel was still head coach. Munchak, who lives in the Denver area and hasn’t worked since a three-year term with the Broncos that concluded in 2021, said if Vrabel had an opening he would be interested in that. He'd also consider a handful of other select openings around the league based on head coaches and geography.

Munchak played 12 years as a guard for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Gauging the loud segment of public reaction, coaching fortunes were moving like Wall Street tickers over Super Wild Card Weekend.

The Texans' offense was fantastic, so Bobby Slowik’s candidacy shot up in the public eye. And Houston took apart Cleveland, which Twitter said could explain why there hasn’t been so much as a mention of Jim Schwartz.

Dallas’ defense failed on a large scale in a loss to the Packers, bruising Dan Quinn’s chances

The Lions' rise continued, and so did Ben Johnson’s ascent but Miami’s offense sputtered again and Frank Smith’s name didn’t gain any traction.

Single games shouldn’t sway teams conducting interviews. It's much more about large bodies of work, but even unit production isn't a must-have when it comes to identifying a new coach.

BY MIKE HERNDON, columnist

The Titans coaching search continues this week as they have reportedly requested 10 candidates so far and have already completed virtual interviews with four of those 10. Here is that list:

🚩Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan (virtual interview completed)
🚩Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka (virtual interview completed)
🚩Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce (virtual interview completed)
🚩Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald (virtual interview completed)
🚩Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn (virtual interview scheduled for Wednesday)
🚩Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown (virtual interview scheduled for Thursday)
🚩Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn
🚩Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson
🚩Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik
🚩Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson

I would expect that the Titans will complete their initial round of interviews from this group and then will narrow in on a few to bring back in person for a second interview. It would be surprising if they moved quickly with a hire in the coming days based on how wide of a net they have cast to this point and some of the big fish that are still lingering on the market. The Titans aren’t in on Jim Harbaugh or Bill Belichick themselves, but it does feel to me like those big names may need to come off the board before some of these other pieces fall into place.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Greetings. Hope you're doing OK in the snow and staying warm. I am due for a nap. 

I thought a mailbag would be a good way to check in on multiple things at once.

So let's dive right into an an early-week edition.

Do you get the sense that if a HC candidate is not all in on Levis that it’s a showstopper? Would they be open to hearing a plan that includes drafting another QB early?

— The General (@mac9nj) January 16, 2024

It’s a little tricky. Amy Adams Strunk said in her statement that the Titans have already added “a promising young quarterback.” Ran Carthon said at his press conference that, “We're not going to make our whole search about Will Levis.

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

And just like that, the Mike Vrabel era in Tennessee is over. It was impossible to imagine this day just 14 months ago as Vrabel had his team sitting at 7-3, winners of 31 of their last 44 regular season contests, poised to win the AFC South for the third straight season.

Losing 18 of 24 can change hearts and minds quickly in the NFL. There is no doubt that Vrabel bears some responsibility for this losing stretch. Some of his staff decisions were uninspiring and he was probably guilty of crossing the line from loyal and patient to flat-out stubborn at times. His teams consistently were overly reliant on winning games in one specific way.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – What’s the fate of Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff?

Ran Carthon said he won’t stand in the way of an opportunity for any of them in the coming weeks if they have a job opportunity they want to accept before the Titans’ new coach is in place.

But once that guy is hired, Carthon intends to present whoever remains to him and allow him to interview who he’d like.

Amy Adams Strunk doesn’t seem wild about who Vrabel leaves behind. Each assistant has one year remaining on his contract.

She said in her statement, "As I continued to assess the state of our team, I arrived at the conclusion that the team would also benefit from the fresh approach and perspective of a new coaching staff.”