Clark Lea and Brian Callahan have been friends for over 20 years.
Lea, the Vanderbilt football
coach, and Callahan, the former Tennessee Titans head coach and current quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the New York Giants, met at UCLA in 2005, when Callahan was a player and Lea was a volunteer coach. The next year, Lea and Callahan were both graduate assistants. They became close enough that Callahan was in Lea's wedding."He's smart, he's a good time, but we connected on so many levels around the detail and work, how we saw the game of football, both the tactical parts of it, but also the emotional parts of it," Lea told The Tennessean. " ... On the philosophical parts, we just connected."
For two years, Lea and Callahan were
reunited in the same place. They were both undertaking significant rebuilds as the 2024 season began, Lea after a 2-10 season in 2023 season with the Commodores and Callahan in taking over a Titans team that had missed the playoffs two years in a row.
But those rebuilds went different directions. Lea found the right quarterback, Diego Pavia, who led Vanderbilt to a bowl in 2024 and a 10-3 season in 2025. Lea is still with the Commodores (3-0), who are preparing to take on Auburn (2-1, 0-1 SEC) in their SEC opener on Sept. 26 (3:15 p.m. CT, SEC Network). Callahan, meanwhile, went 3-14 in 2024 and was fired partway through the 2025 season. Now, his Giants (1-1) are hosting the Titans (0-2) for a matchup Sept. 27 (noon, CBS).
"We were in constant communication (when both in Nashville)," Lea said. "I think in some ways he was taking on a challenge similar to the challenge that I had taken on, and when he got here ... he was kind of alongside me as I was trying to organize and get it figured out, and then I think as we got this stabilized, I was able to function alongside him as he was working through trying to get it organized and figured out."
Why Clark Lea believes Brian Callahan deserves another head coaching job
Lea believes that the challenges Callahan faced with the Titans, his first head coaching job, provided him with a bigger learning experience than coaching the Titans to success would have, and that he deserves to get another shot soon.
"I was afforded time and he wasn't," Lea said. " ... But that's life in the NFL. I think what he has is foundational learning. I think in some ways, the learning that comes from that level of challenge is better than anything you can get from having success, and so he's going to get back into the grind of the position coaching and having a role and responsibility in New York.
"But there's so few quality head coaching candidates, and here's one that's as good as they come, and he's also got the battle scars now that I think will, when he gets his next opportunity, I'm excited to see his success."
Brian Callahan's family remains in Nashville
Although Callahan now works in New York, his family remained in Nashville. Their families are friends, with kids who went to school together and wives that bonded over the unique experience of having a husband who is a coach. Whenever Callahan is back in town, the two families still meet up.
"When he's in town, we'll usually go to dinner with the wives, or he'll come over to the office, hang out," Lea said. " ... He's one of my closest friends, and I'm sad he's not here anymore. I'm excited for him, though, because I know that next opportunity will come."
The two still text weekly during the season. Lea will be focusing on his own team's matchup with Auburn, but he knows that he'll talk with Callahan before their respective games this weekend.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Clark Lea believes ex-Titans coach Brian Callahan deserves a 2nd shot as NFL coach | Exclusive
