Emotional Titans Coach Fought Back Tears After Win Over Patriots
Tennessee Titans first-year head coach Brian Callahan was desperate for a win and earned one against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium on Sunday.
Callahan got choked up after the 20-17 overtime verdict, the second victory of his young career. It snapped a three-game losing skid for the Titans.
“I mean, look at me,” Callahan told reporters while fighting back tears, per a team-provided video. “I needed it bad, man.
“It was,” Callahan said, pausing to collect himself, “yeah, needed it.”
Callahan credited the Titans for showing resiliency against Jerod Mayo’s Patriots.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye led New England on a game-tying touchdown drive in the final two minutes. Maye hit running back Rhamondre Stevenson on a touchdown pass with no time left in regulation, which extended the game into overtime.
Tennessee received the overtime kickoff and averaged 5.5 yards per play on its drive before it kicked an eventual game-winning field goal.
“Man, what a definition of what we want our football team to look like and play like when things get tight,” Callahan said. “Tremendous amount of resilience. We finally got in a position of where the way our team plays and the way they go about their business actually got a chance to pay off for us, which was really great to see. I’m proud of those guys. I love what we’re made of in the locker room and we finally played long enough, hard enough and well enough to put ourselves in position to win a game.”
The Patriots first-year head coach wasn’t feeling the same emotions following the loss.