NASHVILLE – Cam Ward has a new head coach.
But the rookie quarterback's mindset remains the same as he tries to change the fortunes of the Tennessee Titans in 2025.
"My job is to play quarterback, and my job is to help lead this team to wins," Ward said on Wednesday. "I am going to support whatever decision we make (as an organization), and the guys in the locker room are going to support it.
"At the end of the day, with coach or without coach, we are trying to win football games and that is the same message coach Mike (McCoy) is preaching. We just have to live by it and stay true to it."
Earlier this week, the Titans parted ways with head coach Brian Callahan, and then named Mike McCoy as the team's interim head coach.
Ward said he developed a good relationship with Callahan, and he appreciates how much he helped him.
"You feel for him, because of what he has done for me to get to this point," Ward said. "Just through the draft prep, through the offseason, training camp, how he helped me get to this point. So, I feel for him."
Ward said he has a great relationship with McCoy, who was initially hired as senior offensive assistant on Callahan's staff back in March.
McCoy is a former head coach with several stints as an offensive coordinator in the NFL.
"It's been good," Ward said of McCoy. "He was one of the first people to greet me once I came in on my 30-visit here. And he's had a history with good quarterbacks, had a chance to work with Philip Rivers. And just the attitude he brings to the team, the building. He wants us to play winning football, and he is going to get that out of us.
"So, we just have to buy in, come in together with coach and make plays."
In six games this season, Ward has completed 111-of-202 passes for 1,101 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. Ward's 111 completed passes are the second-most all-time through six games by a Titans rookie, trailing only Marcus Mariota.
But the Titans have struggled mightily on offense in 2025. The Titans are averaging just 12.8 ppg, which is last in the NFL. The Titans are also last in the NFL in total yards per game (232.3), first downs per game (15.2) and third down percentage (28.0) and tied for last in sacks allowed (25).
McCoy will do his part to fix things.
One of his top objectives is to help Ward.
"Well, that's going to be our number one focus is: How do we get Cam (Ward) to be more efficient and have more success?," McCoy said. "But it's not just him. There's 10 other guys on the field with him that have got to do their jobs better, too. So we all have to do our jobs better, coaching, playing, everybody. But I think there's the good and the bad. And as a young player, as a rookie, there's going to be some bumps in the road. It's going to happen. I mean, it doesn't matter what position you're going to play in this league, especially quarterback's the hardest position to play. So, there's some really good things and then there's some things that you want to say, what are we doing? But the number one focus has got to be, okay, how do we minimize the mistakes and get more of the good, more production? But that's all 11 on offense working together and being more efficient."
McCoy, in his 23rd NFL season, was head coach of the Chargers from 2013-2016. He also previously coached with the Carolina Panthers (2000-2008), Denver Broncos (2009-2012 and 2017) and Arizona Cardinals (2018) before joining the Jaguars in 2022, where he served three seasons as quarterbacks coach, where he helped develop QB Trevor Lawrence.
McCoy finished in the top half of the league in total offense in three of his four years as head coach with the Chargers. He also finished with a top 10 passing offense in all four seasons as a head coach.
Ward said he likes McCoy's approach.
"I think he is even keel," Ward said of McCoy. "He never gets too high or too low, even throughout the sideline, you can see him I games, his facial expression never changes. He is always the one to pick someone up if we need it.
"Now he is just in a more vocal role, and I think it is going to be great for us. I think it is going to be great for us as an offense, and at the end of the day we are going to rally behind him and try to get some wins."
Ward also knows the challenge facing the 1-5 Titans, who will face the Patriots on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
"We put ourselves in a hole these first couple of games," Ward said, "and we have to dig ourselves out of this hole. We still have high energy, the locker room is great, and we just have to try and win."
