Part II:
“Cally — everybody called him Cally — was there all night, early in the morning, breaking film down nonstop,” Manning says. “It’s a grind. I like coaches that are willing to do that. Some coaches just want to skip right to being a full-time position coach, coordinator, head coach, but Cally going through the grind made him learn a lot as a coach.”
Working with Manning, Callahan learned the meaning of accountability.
“You had to go through everything because he did, and then he tried to find holes in whatever you told him,” Callahan says. “We were playing Cincinnati. I tell him they never bring this safety blitz when the corner is in this position. OK. He writes everything in his notebook, this horrible chicken scratch. So the next morning, he opens his notebook and tells us to call up a specific play. He said, ‘You said they don’t bring this blitz when they have this look, but they did it here.’ He had gone like two years back. It was his way of showing me that what I did wasn’t good enough. At that moment, I said I would never be wrong again.”
Eventually, Callahan earned Manning’s trust. Manning says Callahan played a significant role in his late-career success.
“It was a whirlwind ordeal coming to Denver, trying to get established and coming off an injury,” Manning says. “Cally helped a lot with my transition. He was a big part of my journey.”
Watching Manning’s wheels turn made Callahan understand how a coach’s wheels need to turn. Manning did everything at the highest level, from watching tape to giving interviews to broadcasters in production meetings. He was so intense in walkthroughs that he often came off the field drenched with sweat. Manning’s routines, focus and structure were blueprints for Callahan to share with every quarterback to come.
“It was,” Callahan says, “like getting a Ph.D. in quarterback play.”
But Stafford was different from Manning in the way he perceived, related and played, so Callahan had to adjust. Whereas Manning left no doubt what he wanted and how he wanted it, Callahan sometimes had to coax things from the laid-back Stafford.
“I realized not everyone is Peyton, and they don’t have to be,” Callahan says. “I figured out there are a lot of different ways to be good. I absolutely loved coaching him, but I had to coach Matthew differently than Peyton.”
It helped that Dan Orlovsky, then a veteran of 11 NFL seasons, was Stafford’s backup. Orlovsky counseled Callahan on how to connect with Stafford.
“What I did with Peyton, that’s not for everybody,” Callahan says. “Dan helped me mold what I taught to the personalities I was teaching.”
Stafford appreciated Callahan’s experience with Manning, but he didn’t necessarily want the same play calls.
“Some of the things Peyton really liked, maybe I didn’t, and vice versa,” he says. “Brian had an ability to navigate that, communicate that and explain why Peyton liked something. I would say why I didn’t, and he found ways to make those dynamics work. He was always great at it.”
Callahan found Stafford to be intelligent, instinctive, tough and committed. He was relatable in all corners of the locker room. So he focused on building around those attributes.
In addition, Stafford had arm talents that were fantasy for Manning.
“The offense we were running was probably called a little different than when Peyton was running in Denver,” Stafford says. “We probably took a couple more shots down the field here and there. That’s what makes a coach a good coach, being able to get the most out of his players and understand strengths and weaknesses.”
Without flexibility, Callahan learned, he wouldn’t have a chance.
Callahan found Carr intelligent, resilient and adaptable, and also sensitive.
“Being religious is very much a part of who he is, and he would preach,” Callahan says. “He didn’t like people cussing and he didn’t like negative talk. You have to learn to work with that. I’d try not to cuss.”
Gruden, subsequently, tried to reach Carr in his colorful way by instructing, correcting and sometimes berating his backups. The head coach demonstrated how he could get his points across without ruffling Carr.
For every situation, Callahan learned, there is a workaround.
Peyton Manning
The Broncos replaced Tebow with Manning, and Callahan was given a critical responsibility as an offensive assistant: informing Manning of opponents’ tendencies. In the later stages of the season, Manning also assigned Callahan and the backup quarterbacks to research each opponent and make a presentation the day before the game.“Cally — everybody called him Cally — was there all night, early in the morning, breaking film down nonstop,” Manning says. “It’s a grind. I like coaches that are willing to do that. Some coaches just want to skip right to being a full-time position coach, coordinator, head coach, but Cally going through the grind made him learn a lot as a coach.”
Working with Manning, Callahan learned the meaning of accountability.
“You had to go through everything because he did, and then he tried to find holes in whatever you told him,” Callahan says. “We were playing Cincinnati. I tell him they never bring this safety blitz when the corner is in this position. OK. He writes everything in his notebook, this horrible chicken scratch. So the next morning, he opens his notebook and tells us to call up a specific play. He said, ‘You said they don’t bring this blitz when they have this look, but they did it here.’ He had gone like two years back. It was his way of showing me that what I did wasn’t good enough. At that moment, I said I would never be wrong again.”
Eventually, Callahan earned Manning’s trust. Manning says Callahan played a significant role in his late-career success.
“It was a whirlwind ordeal coming to Denver, trying to get established and coming off an injury,” Manning says. “Cally helped a lot with my transition. He was a big part of my journey.”
Watching Manning’s wheels turn made Callahan understand how a coach’s wheels need to turn. Manning did everything at the highest level, from watching tape to giving interviews to broadcasters in production meetings. He was so intense in walkthroughs that he often came off the field drenched with sweat. Manning’s routines, focus and structure were blueprints for Callahan to share with every quarterback to come.
“It was,” Callahan says, “like getting a Ph.D. in quarterback play.”
Matthew Stafford
When Callahan became the Lions’ quarterbacks coach, he was working in the same offense he did with Manning. So naturally, Callahan tried to handle Stafford how he and the other Broncos coaches dealt with Manning.But Stafford was different from Manning in the way he perceived, related and played, so Callahan had to adjust. Whereas Manning left no doubt what he wanted and how he wanted it, Callahan sometimes had to coax things from the laid-back Stafford.
“I realized not everyone is Peyton, and they don’t have to be,” Callahan says. “I figured out there are a lot of different ways to be good. I absolutely loved coaching him, but I had to coach Matthew differently than Peyton.”
It helped that Dan Orlovsky, then a veteran of 11 NFL seasons, was Stafford’s backup. Orlovsky counseled Callahan on how to connect with Stafford.
“What I did with Peyton, that’s not for everybody,” Callahan says. “Dan helped me mold what I taught to the personalities I was teaching.”
Stafford appreciated Callahan’s experience with Manning, but he didn’t necessarily want the same play calls.
“Some of the things Peyton really liked, maybe I didn’t, and vice versa,” he says. “Brian had an ability to navigate that, communicate that and explain why Peyton liked something. I would say why I didn’t, and he found ways to make those dynamics work. He was always great at it.”
Callahan found Stafford to be intelligent, instinctive, tough and committed. He was relatable in all corners of the locker room. So he focused on building around those attributes.
In addition, Stafford had arm talents that were fantasy for Manning.
“The offense we were running was probably called a little different than when Peyton was running in Denver,” Stafford says. “We probably took a couple more shots down the field here and there. That’s what makes a coach a good coach, being able to get the most out of his players and understand strengths and weaknesses.”
Without flexibility, Callahan learned, he wouldn’t have a chance.
Derek Carr
Seventeen years after Callahan was a high school kid sitting in on Gruden’s install meetings with the Raiders, he joined Gruden’s staff in Oakland as quarterbacks coach. In Gruden’s second stint as head coach of the Raiders, his quarterback was Carr, who was very different from Gannon and every other quarterback Callahan had been around.Callahan found Carr intelligent, resilient and adaptable, and also sensitive.
“Being religious is very much a part of who he is, and he would preach,” Callahan says. “He didn’t like people cussing and he didn’t like negative talk. You have to learn to work with that. I’d try not to cuss.”
Gruden, subsequently, tried to reach Carr in his colorful way by instructing, correcting and sometimes berating his backups. The head coach demonstrated how he could get his points across without ruffling Carr.
For every situation, Callahan learned, there is a workaround.
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