Offseason contract extensions makes firing Titans coaching staff even more expensive for Amy Adams Strunk
It has been said, however cynically, that there is no better job than to be a fired ball coach. Some of the richest, most flexible people in our society are those living fat and happy on massive contract buyouts and multiple years of owed money for no work. It’s the sign of a dysfunctional organization to have a laundry list of salaries on the books being paid to former employees, but it sure sounds like a nice perk for the coaches. Nobody likes to be fired, but in an industry with so much volatile turnover, that insurance is nice to have.
Brian Callahan became just the latest former Titans employee to start cashing checks for zero service rendered when he was fired six games into the season. But as it turns out, he’s far from the only person Amy Adams Strunk will be paying to go away soon.
Callahan’s coaching staff signed extensions before 2025
Brian Callahan reportedly signed a 5-year contract that pays him around $3M annually in 2024 when he was hired. He served out less than a year and a half of that, meaning he’ll be on the Titans payroll for another three and a half years or until he gets another significant job.
Sources tell A to Z Sports that Callahan’s primary lieutenants—offensive coordinator Nick Holz and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson—signed three year contracts before the 2024 season. So they’ll be on the payroll through January 2027.
Sources also confirmed the vast majority of the rest of Callahan’s coaching staff, if not all of them, signed two year deals in 2024. But during this past offseason, they were all given extensions at least through to January 2027 alongside the coordinators. It’s generally good business not to leave your staff on expiring contracts, especially when a team is heading into a year where the plan is to play a ton of young and inexperienced players.
After all, Bill Parcells famously said “for every rookie you start, you lose a game". Everybody understands the volatility of this business, and specifically of the owners in this business. Fighting for insurance in a situation like this, beyond just 2025, makes all the sense in the world. And it’s what Callahan’s staff got.
Which brings us back to Amy Adams Strunk, who has garnered a remarkable reputation lately for paying people to not work for her. The obvious reality on the ground here is that this entire Titans coaching staff is getting the axe at the end of the year, with the only possible exception being special team coordinator John “Bones” Fassel. He signed on with the team in 2025, and it’s fair to assume he signed a contract for at least two years. I could see a world in which he’s retained by the next staff, who by the way, Amy Adams Strunk also has to pay.
To think of this entire staff of Callahan’s that will be dead weight on the books soon, and then consider the entire next staff that will be signed in the new year… it’s not a great situation for Titans leadership. Will it restrict their willingness to pay top dollar for their next candidate? It’s this very situation that makes me question people who think somebody like Mike McCarthy could be coaching this team next. The guy who walked away from Dallas over money and contract duration disputes? Titans ownership is going to shell out for that guy? I’ll believe it when I see it.
Patrick Mahomes Shares Scary Thought About Chiefs Offense After Week 8
After the Kansas City Chiefs routed the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared a simple thought about the current KC offense entering Week 9, and it should terrify the rest of the NFL.
While talking about bouncing back from penalties to finish drives and consistently put points on the board, Mahomes revealed the following.
“It speaks to the mindset [that] this team has,” the Chiefs QB said during his Week 8 postgame press conference. “That’s kind of the mindset that I had early in my career — that the penalties weren’t going to affect us, we were going to go out there and score no matter what.”
As a reminder, earlier in his career, Mahomes led one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL year after year, including two 5,000-yard passing seasons and one campaign with 50 passing touchdowns in 2018.
Mahomes is not quite on that sort of pace in 2025, but he has only just gotten his full complement of playmakers back, with star wide receiver Rashee Rice returning in Week 7. Needless to say, if he and this current KC offense can mirror 2018 down the stretch, that’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.
Chiefs Offense Turns It Up a Notch in the Second Half in Week 8 as Patrick Mahomes & Co. Match Commanders’ Energy
After the game, Mahomes admitted that he felt the Chiefs’ offense didn’t match the Commanders’ energy in the first half of the Week 8 Monday Night Football outing. That’s fair, considering it was a 7-7 scoreline entering the break.
From there, Kansas City promptly closed the game out with 21 unanswered points and three Mahomes passing touchdowns.
“When we got in the locker room, we just talked about executing, you know?” Mahomes told reporters. “Sometimes you want to press and make stuff happen, especially in a big game like Monday Night Football… They had more energy than we did; their defense versus our offense, and so we had to match their energy and execute at a higher level. And we were able to do that in the second half. It started off with that first drive, and then we kind of continued that momentum through the rest of the second half.”
The Chiefs’ offense really displayed its true potential in quarters three and four, facing the Commanders.
Whether it was Travis Kelce getting loose in the secondary, Rice gashing the opposition, Isiah Pacheco hammering the defensive front, Kareem Hunt leaking out in the passing game, or Xavier Worthy bringing his speed element, KC was firing on all cylinders.
And they didn’t even utilize a couple of early-season playmakers like Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton all that much.
This Chiefs offense is more diverse and more dynamic than it has been in a long time, and more than anything else, that speaks volumes. Mahomes sees it, and soon the rest of the NFL will, too.
Chiefs’ Offensive Leaders in Week 8
GettyKansas City Chiefs veteran playmakers Kareem Hunt (left) and Travis Kelce (right) celebrate a touchdown in Week 8.
Kelce led the way in receiving yards in Week 8, finishing just 1 yard shy of 100 (6 for 99). He also caught a historic touchdown to add to his Hall of Fame career.
After a somewhat slow start in the first half, Rice nearly matched Kelce in yardage by the end of the game, with 93 receiving yards off 9 catches. Rice also notched another TD.
Worthy was next with 5 catches for 53 yards, and veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster got on the board with 2 receptions for 29 yards, as did backup tight end Noah Gray (2 for 23).
Finally, Pacheco rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries, while Hunt added 40 rushing yards on 9 carries. Hunt finished with 2 touchdowns in this outing, 1 rushing and 1 receiving, and Mahomes finished with 299 passing yards and 3 touchdowns despite 2 early interceptions.
The Chiefs’ next matchup is a big one, as Kansas City will head to northern New York to face the AFC rival Buffalo Bills in enemy territory.
