Jets assistant coach Callahan an ultimate linemaker

Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden's starting left tackle was hurt, thrusting some unknown guy only months removed from the Scottish Claymores into the spotlight.

The Raiders were traveling 2,700 miles to play the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium, a place that in October 1999 was like walking into a lion's den with a raw meat necklace dangling around their necks. Buffalo had whipped the Jets and Eagles and squeaked past the Steelers by a field goal to get off to a 3-0 start at home.

The Bills boasted a formidable defensive front, with Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith serving as sack king. So because the Raiders were about to toss out an undrafted free agent who was coming off an ACL injury and had to go through the NFL Europe League to get his shot at NFL glory, assistant coach Bill Callahan did his best to assuage Gruden's feelings and thoughts - again.

See, Callahan already had given his take weeks earlier, talking up Barry Sims as a guy who could do the job and step in at left tackle if need be.

"There was talk earlier in camp that they weren't going to keep him and they were going to let him go,'' said Callahan, now the Jets' assistant head coach/offensive line coach. "And I said, 'I don't think we should let this guy go; he's a pretty good player. Just give me two more weeks with him.' "

Decision day finally came, and it was about to go down against Smith, the 6-4, 265-pound pass-rushing freak who became the NFL's all-time sacks leader.

"He says, 'Hey Gru, Barry Sims is going to do a heck of a job against Bruce Smith,' " said Gruden, now an ESPN analyst. "I go, 'Bill, leave me alone, just leave me alone. We are going to get our -- kicked and Bruce Smith is going to break a sack record against us.' "

For those familiar with Callahan's work, it's not hard to figure out exactly what transpired: zero sacks for Smith and, oh by the way, Oakland won, 20-14.

"We beat the Bills and Barry Sims blocked the hell out of Bruce Smith," Gruden said with a chuckle, "and Barry Sims is still playing in the league with the San Francisco 49ers. This guy [Callahan] is a phenomenal coach; he's made a lot of guys a lot of money in pro football."

Including Sims, just one of the countless players with whom the 54-year-old Callahan has spent hours upon hours, drilling home techniques and tactics.

There's a reason why Rex Ryan entrusts Callahan with so much, why the Jets felt they could get rid of perennial Pro Bowler Alan Faneca and replace him with either Matt Slauson or Vladimir Ducasse at left guard.

"Any time you can help these guys get to where they are at," Callahan said, "or get them another year in the league or get them another opportunity, yeah, I think it speaks volumes for you."

But you won't ever hear Callahan boasting about the things he's done along the dotted trail, a career that began in his native Chicago as an assistant freshman football coach at Oak Lawn High School before heading a year later to De La Salle High School, right near the old Comiskey Park.

Callahan first hit the college ranks in 1980 at Illinois at age 24 after his one season as a teacher and coach at De La Salle. He also had stints at Northern Arizona, Southern Illinois and Wisconsin, eventually getting his chance in the NFL as an offensive line coach with the Eagles in 1995. That's where he hooked up with Gruden. The two made their way to Oakland in 1998, where Callahan was Gruden's offensive coordinator until 2001. "We spent a lot of time together - seven years together," Gruden said. "We won some games, we made a few first downs."

Callahan took over as head coach in 2002, guiding Oakland to an 11-5 season and a Super Bowl berth. But owner Al Davis fired him after a 4-12 campaign a season later, paving the way for him to go to Nebraska as head coach. After Callahan spent four seasons in Lincoln, Eric Mangini hired him as a Jets assistant, but Callahan was in limbo when Mangini was fired after a 9-7 season in 2008.

Enter Ryan, who thought keeping Callahan around was a no-brainer. Callahan initially had his doubts, though.

"When the job came, I didn't know if he wanted me or if he didn't want me," said Callahan, who interviewed for the job of head coach before it went to Ryan. "So he said, 'Hey, I'd like for you to stay.' And I said, 'Absolutely, I would love to.' "

Under Callahan's tutelage last year, the Jets broke the franchise's rushing record, gaining an NFL-best 2,756 yards and averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Three members of their offensive line - center Nick Man- gold, Faneca and left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson - were named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season, giving people such as Slauson hope that Callahan can do the same for him someday.

The second-year guard, who played under Callahan at Nebraska, believes there's no way he'd be cashing a pro check if not for Callahan. "I attribute all my success to him," he said. "If not for him, I probably wouldn't be in the league. I probably wouldn't be playing."

What's Callahan's secret?

"He's one of the smartest people I know and he's got the great ability to translate it to us lesser-minded folk," Mangold said. " . . . And his precision, the way he'll get on you if you are not taking the right step, if you're not putting your hand in the right place . . . It's a great discipline and a great way to coach us."

Fullback Tony Richardson said: "The way that he can explain things and teach the concepts, I think that's really what gives us the confidence to go out and get the job done."

Said reserve lineman Wayne Hunter: "There's a lot of coaches out there that just tell you to go block this guy and don't tell you how to do it. He's a real technical teacher. I'd say he's perfected our techniques since the day he got here."

Said Gruden: "There's nobody that works harder than this guy. I took a lot of pride getting to the office at 3 o'clock and working. This guy sets the tone in terms of work ethic. He looks at it, he studies it. He's detailed in a freakish manner . . . He's into 6-inch steps, brace your steps, hand placement, backside blocking, pad level. This guy is amazing in terms of fundamentals."

That's Callahan's staple. He records each individual drill in practice and shows it the next day in meetings, his way of honing the basics.

Turner said: "When stuff starts moving and stuff starts flying around and it's live bullets flying, you fall back to your fundamentals."

Still, Callahan doesn't run a dictatorship. He has no qualms about tweaking his scheme - as he did this season on some of the stunt blocking - and actually asks his players for input.

"A lot of coaches have too much pride to even do that," Hunter said. "Without any hesitation, he'll come to us and say, 'You know what? What I learned from Alan [Faneca] is this. We should do it this way. What I learned from Meat [Brandon Moore] is this and we should do it this way.' That's a real big thing about a coach."

Callahan typically is in the office by 5:30 a.m. and is one of the last to call it a night. He and Ryan work well together and Ryan lets Callahan mostly do his own thing without much intrusion.

"I feel fortunate that he kept me on here when there was a change after my first year here under Eric," Callahan said. "I don't think there's a better guy to work for in the NFL, and I say that meaningfully because as a line coach, he's a defensive head coach who wants to run the football. I think every line coach in the NFL would love to work for him because you know you are going to run the football."

"It's been a great situation."

A situation that's been extremely beneficial, just as it was during Callahan's days with Gruden.

"We led the league in rushing when I was with the Raiders. The next year, when I was in Tampa, I think we were 28th," Gruden said. "So I was a little better with Bill than I was without him.

"He's a big-picture guy . . . I think he's the best there is in football. If I could have one guy to hire, I'd hire him. He'd be on my staff."