NASHVILLE — In an exclusive interview, Tennessee Titans’ first-year coach Brian Callahan recently shared his insights with Sports Illustrated National Football League writer Albert Breer about choosing Nashville for his first head coaching job.

Breer watched game film with Callahan and spent time with quarterback Will Levis. The article you should read details how Callahan plans to use his expertise to work with the second-year quarterback.

One of the areas Breer focused on was how Callahan wanted to make Levis feel comfortable while holding him accountable. Callahan started affirming Levis as the starter from his introductory press conference after the team hired Callahan to replace Mike Vrabel.

Callahan has overwhelmingly praised Levis in every interview since taking the job, and Breer gets the first-year coach to explain why.

“I think you do a disservice to guys, particularly if you’re drafting them, and you make them compete for a job. Guys need to play,” Callahan told Breer. “They need to be put in a position where they are the quarterback. There’s something about that that matters to a team and a locker room. If you’re going to do it, do it. It all sounds good—He should sit. That’s not the reality. That’s not the financial reality of the NFL, either. You’re trying to take advantage of a young quarterback on a rookie contract, that’s the other part of it.”

It seems that the Titans’ free agent moves, such as signing wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, running back Tony Pollard, and center Lloyd Cushenberry, indicate that general manager Ran Carthon wants to see how good Levis is this season. Callahan confirmed that the team is going all in with Levis.

“There’s something about being the quarterback and knowing … when you walk into the building and walk onto the field, you know that you’re the quarterback and you know that everyone around you knows that you’re the quarterback,” Callahan told Breer. “It allows you some freedom. Especially when you’re a young player, there’s no growth unless you make mistakes.”

Last season, Levis completed 149 of 255 passes for 1,808 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions, resulting in a passer rating of 84.2. However, he struggled with ankle and foot injuries towards the end of the season, which impacted his performance and caused him to miss two of the team’s final three games.

Callahan believes that Levis is capable of making significant improvements this season. He also understands that Levis will face struggles, which can be mitigated with the confidence that the Kentucky alum can learn quickly.

“The problem is, if you’re competing for a job, you’re not going to be willing to make the mistakes you need to make in order to improve at a rapid rate, Callahan told Breer. “You’re more worried about the perception of the mistake than actually learning from the mistake. I think that does guys a disservice, and I think it stunts growth when you have to be constantly worried about it. If I know I can make this throw, but it’s going to be kind of hairy, and I probably shouldn’t, but I’m going to do it anyway. Maybe it takes a hell of a throw, but I can coach off that.”

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Can the former top cop who dramatically reduced crime in New York City in the 1990s help make Memphis a safer city?  State Senator Brent Taylor wants former New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton to tackle the Bluff City’s crime problem.

Under former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Bratton’s tough-on-crime approach reduced crime in the Big Apple by double digits in the first year.

Bratton is now executive chairman of Risk Advisory at Teneo, a global consulting firm that Sen. Taylor thinks the state should hire to help Memphis fix its crime problem.

“We have to do something immediately,” Taylor told Action News 5, “and the best way to do that is with crime suppression, with our police arresting people, and with our DA hopefully prosecuting people, getting convictions and getting people incarcerated.”

Taylor sent a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday, May 28, requesting a meeting to talk about the state hiring a consultant who can create a crime reduction strategy for Memphis.

“If we don’t get a handle on the crime problem,” said Taylor, “we’re going to wind up being the new Detroit, which is the example of a failed American city.”

Sen. Taylor said Bratton’s experience in reducing crime is what Memphis needs right now. NYPD’s “Broken Windows” approach, making arrests for small crimes, worked, but not without controversy.

State Senator London Lamar called the department’s “stop and frisk” policy inhumane and unfair to Black and brown citizens.

”I am feeling the challenges around public safety just as much as you are, I get it,” she told Action News 5. “It is of urgency that we get this under control, but that doesn’t mean we need to implement policies that will do more harm than good.”

Sen. Taylor’s letter said the state should avoid working with criminal justice reform groups like Just City, Decarcerate Memphis, Vera Institute of Justice and Justice Innovation Lab.

“They are about defunding the police,” said Taylor, “decarceration, and they are about cashless bail, and I think they are part of the problem.”

In a statement, Just City Executive Director Josh Spickler told Action News 5:

“Sen. Brent Taylor’s latest letter again misrepresents the work of Just City and those doing the most to interrupt cycles of injustice and harm in our state. His proposals are unserious and would do nothing to address crime in our city. Instead of exploring legitimate policy solutions, Taylor continues to make boogeymen of advocates like us in order to score political points.

Just City values safety and justice for everyone, and we will not be defined or deterred by Sen. Taylor’s latest letter-writing stunt. We will continue to work tirelessly to make our city safer and more fair for everyone, as we have for the past nine years.”

And the Vera Institute of Justice provided the following statement:

“Vera Institute was invited to Memphis by local organizations, like Decarcerate Memphis, that are led by directly-impacted people. Victims, community members, and advocates overwhelmingly want alternatives to incarceration. While police are an important part of keeping Memphis safe, they are not the only solution. Restorative justice is a solution that people want; by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, research shows that victims prefer the criminal legal system to focus more on rehabilitating people who commit crimes than punishing them. When Memphis city council passed the Tyre Nichols Act reprioritizing traffic stops to keep people safer and build community trust with police, state officials responded by passing legislation attempting to reverse it. Vera will continue to collaborate with local governments and support community demands for policies and practices that truly keep people safe.”

In 2013, a federal judge found the manner in which NYPD carried out “stop and frisk” was unconstitutional.

Sen. Lamar said she does agree with Bratton on several issues: He’s against arming teachers with guns, he supports bans on assault weapons and champions tougher gun laws.

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BELFAST, Tenn. (WSMV) – On Tuesday morning, Lucky’s Cat House was contacted by officials in Marshall County about a report of cats in cages on the side of the road in Belfast.

Lucky’s and an officer with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident. Upon arrival, 28 cats and kittens were found in three plastic totes and two metal dog cages including one dead kitten.

Lucky’s said they’re working with the sheriff’s department in hopes of finding the person responsible for dumping the animals. The cat rescue said they’d be discussing with Marshall County Mayor Mike Kenny about the situation.

Last week Lucky’s Cat House was “begging” for fosters. The rescue said it had 87 cats and kittens in its care between their fosters and the cat house. The nonprofit added that they have less than 20 active volunteers.

“We desperately need fosters, donations of both kitten and cat food and monetary donations for medical needs,” they said.

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