NASHVILLE – Mike McCoy didn't ask for this.
The veteran coach came to Nashville to serve as an assistant on head coach Brian Callahan's staff, not to replace him.
But the events of the last 24 hours – and really the last 1 ½ seasons – changed everything.
Now, McCoy is the team's interim head coach, and he's ready to do his part to change the fortunes of a struggling football team.
"I have a job to do now," McCoy said during a press conference on Tuesday. "And I am excited for that opportunity. It is an honor and a privilege to be standing here today, leading this organization. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us. But the one thing – and I've talked to the staff already and will talk to the team tomorrow – will be about togetherness. We have to stick together, that is the only way to do it. We all have a part in this, and where we are today. It is not just Brian. … Every player, every coach, every person in the organization, we have to hold each other accountable."
McCoy also had a message for the fans on Tuesday.
The Titans face the Patriots on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
"With regards to our fan base, I understand the frustration," McCoy said. "Our (1-5) record is what it is. But I can promise you we are going to work our tails off every day we walk in this facility, as a coaching staff, as players, to go out there and do whatever we can to give us our best opportunity to win, and that's what it is all about. It's about winning. So, we have to go out there and play with great energy, great effort, play with a swagger, complementary football. All three phases playing together, that is the big thing. We all understand where we are, that we've struggled on offense. And we have to fix that. And that is the No.1 thing we have to do right now moving forward, we have to fix it and clean up some things on offense. … When you play complementary football and help each other out, good things are going to happen.
"So, to the fans, we are going to go out there, and we are going to fight our tails off and get rolling."
McCoy was officially named interim head coach on Monday, after the team parted ways with Callahan, who compiled a record of just 4-19 over the past two seasons.
McCoy, initially hired as senior offensive assistant on Callahan's staff back in March, is a former head coach with several stints as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. He most recently served three seasons as quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he helped develop QB Trevor Lawrence.
McCoy, in his 23rd NFL season, previously coached with the Carolina Panthers (2000-2008), Denver Broncos (2009-2012 and 2017), San Diego Chargers (2013-2016), and Arizona Cardinals (2018) before joining the Jaguars in 2022.
The 53-year-old McCoy was head coach of the Chargers from 2013-2016.
McCoy said on Tuesday he plans to work to help quarterback Cam Ward, and the offense, to execute better.
"What does Cam do best?" McCoy said. "And what do we do best as an offense? … We have to look at our scheme and what we are doing, and it is going to change from week to week."
The coaching staff will remain the same, with the exception of offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who will not be retained. Assistants Scott Fuchs and Matt Jones will coach the offensive line, and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree will continue calling plays.
McCoy believes his experience as a head coach will help him at this time.
In McCoy's four seasons as head coach of the Chargers (2013-16), San Diego's offense ranked ninth in the league in total offense (365.9 yards per game) and second in third-down percentage (44.6 percent). In addition, McCoy's group had a top 10 passing attack each season. San Diego qualified for the postseason in McCoy's first season (2013) and beat the Bengals in the Wild Card round.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers finished with his three highest single season completion percentage marks under McCoy while averaging more than 31 TD passes per year. Rivers earned Comeback Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press in 2013 after completing a career-best and NFL-high 69.5 percent of his passes for 4,478 yards with 32 TDs and 11 INTs (105.5 rating).
"(My past experience) is invaluable," McCoy said. "Because nobody knows until you're in this role. You think you're ready, you got no clue. There's so many things that come up on a daily basis that you have to deal with. And I was young back in 2013 when I first got the job in San Diego. And the things that came across my desk, I'm like, 'I've got to answer this? What are you talking about? Isn't that his job to do that?' You're the head coach. So there's just so many things, whether it's the practice schedules, it's game days, it's the offseason, it is travel. There's so many things you have to do and then with the roster, players, families, gameday, there's so many things that come up. But that's my four years working with a great organization, and the way we worked together and the way the Spanos family treated me, Tom Telesco and stuff, I've learned so much from them and it's going to really help me in my situation now.
"When I first came here, I never thought that this was going to happen here. Would it be a goal of mine to say one day again I'd be a head coach? Sure, that's what everyone wants. I'm a leader. I love to lead. I love to work with the players, work with coaches, work with the entire organization. We've got great people here in the organization. There's so many good people, not just the coaching staff and the players, I'm talking the entire organization as a whole. Like I said, I love coming to work every day. It doesn't matter who it's with, what department it's with, we got great people here. And that's what I love, being a part of that and being able to lead everybody. And it's an honor and it's a privilege to be standing here in front of you guys today saying that I'm going to lead this organization."
