The Titans have botched every major decision since they fired Mike Vrabel because they were afraid to give someone competent more power.
On Monday, the Titans announced that they had fired coach Brian Callahan, a year and a half after he replaced Vrabel. Callahan, who went 4–19, was let go 10 months after Tennessee fired GM Ran Carthon. And the team told Callahan to take a hike five months after using the No. 1 pick to draft quarterback Cam Ward.
Our Albert Breer laid it all out here.
The @Titans' timeline over the last 3 years ...
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 13, 2025
Dec. 2022: GM Jon Robinson fired.
Jan. 2023: Ran Carthon hired as GM.
Jan. 2024: HC Mike Vrabel fired.
Jan. 2024: AGM Chad Brinker promoted to president.
Jan. 2024: Brian Callahan hired as HC.
Jan. 2025: GM Ran Carthon fired.
Jan.…
This organization has no clue how to run a football team. They might continue to make rash decisions because ownership desperately needs a watchable product before its new stadium opens in Nashville in 2027.
However, Tennessee can take solace in knowing it’s not alone when it comes to putting rookie quarterbacks in the worst situations. The NFL has an epidemic, one that has gone under the radar for several years.
Ward became the latest quarterback to lose his head coach less than a year after being the No. 1 pick in the draft. In the past decade alone, it’s happened to Caleb Williams (2024), Bryce Young (’23), Trevor Lawrence (’21), Baker Mayfield (’18) and Jared Goff (’16).
Let’s review what happened to these quarterbacks who had to learn multiple playbooks in short spans to get a sense of the uphill battle Ward will face in the coming months and years.
Caleb Williams, Bears
Rookie stats: 62.5%, 3,541 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs
Second-year stats: 62.3%, 927 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs (four games)
Williams had a chaotic rookie season, with the Bears firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron two months into the season. Coach Matt Eberflus was fired a few weeks after that, thrusting Thomas Brown into the interim head coach role not long after taking over as OC.
Williams has improved with new coach Ben Johnson, but it’s still too early to tell whether he’s truly turned a corner. He tends to get in trouble playing away from the scheme.
Bryce Young, Panthers
Rookie stats: 59.8%, 2,877 yards, 11 TDs, 10 INTs
Second-year stats: 60.9%, 2,403 yards, 15 TDs, 9 INTs
Young might have been dealt the ultimate crappy card for rookie quarterbacks. Frank Reich lasted only 11 games as Carolina’s head coach in 2023. Reich attempted to stop the bleeding by handing offensive play-calling duties to Brown two months into the season, but that didn’t do much to help the struggling Young. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor finished the year as interim head coach before the team hired Dave Canales for the permanent role.
Young was benched by Canales a few weeks into his second season, but learning from the sidelines ended up being beneficial for the 2023 No. 1 pick. Still, Young has been inconsistent, even in his third season.
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars
Rookie stats: 59.6%, 3,641 yards, 12 TDs, 17 INTs
Second-year stats: 66.3%, 4,113 yards, 25 TDs, 8 INTs
Lawrence went from enduring the rookie season from hell with Urban Meyer to producing a sensational second season with Doug Pederson. It’s actually easy to forget how good Lawrence was in his second season, leading the Jaguars to a wild-card victory over the Chargers. That’s how inconsistent he’s been in his five-year career.
But Lawrence is trending in the right direction under his third head coach, Liam Coen, who has the Jaguars at 4–2.
Baker Mayfield, Browns/Panthers/Rams/Buccaneers
Rookie stats: 63.8%, 3,725 yards, 27 TDs, 14 INTs
Second-year stats: 59.4%, 3,827 yards, 22 TDs, 21 INTs
Mayfield gave Cleveland a much-needed jolt with an impressive rookie season. He started his first year playing behind Tyrod Taylor before coach Hue Jackson felt the pressure to play the Oklahoma product. Jackson was fired before Halloween, with Freddie Kitchens taking over as interim HC.
There was a lot of hype for Mayfield’s second season because the team traded for Odell Beckham Jr. to pair with fellow receiver Jarvis Landry. The Browns never played up to the hype, and Kitchens was fired after the 6–10 season. Mayfield had a few more tumbles, falling out of favor in Cleveland because the team signed Deshaun Watson. He landed with the Panthers before being waived and joining Sean McVay with the Rams for a five-game stretch.
Mayfield hasn’t looked back since joining the Buccaneers in 2023. He’s now the vastly underpaid MVP frontrunner this season.
Jared Goff, Rams/Lions
Rookie stats: 54.6%, 1,089 yards, 5 TDs, 7 INTs
Second-year stats: 62.1%, 3,804 yards, 28 TDs, 7 INTs
There wasn’t much optimism in Los Angeles for Goff after a lackluster rookie season with coach Jeff Fisher, who started Case Keenum for nine games in 2016. But everything changed for Goff when the team hired McVay as head coach the following season.
Goff guided the Rams to the Super Bowl during the 2018 campaign, but his up-and-down performances the following two seasons forced McVay to look elsewhere for a starting quarterback. That led to the infamous Cabo trip where McVay and Matthew Stafford “coincidentally” met before the 2021 blockbuster trade that saw the Lions and Rams swap quarterbacks.
After one rough season in Detroit, Goff revived his career and has turned the Lions into perennial Super Bowl contenders.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cam Ward Is the Latest NFL No. 1 Pick to Follow a Dubious Trend.
