3:32pm: Washington has officially announced the hiring of Callahan as the team’s offensive line coach (Twitter link).
1:15pm: Callahan will simply be Washington’s offensive line coach, rather than taking on any offensive coordinator duties as well, tweets Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Along those same lines, John Keim of ESPN.com tweets that Callahan won’t be club’s play-caller.
1:02pm: Washington has hired former Cowboys offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Callahan has agreed to a “very lucrative” three-year contract with the team. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported earlier today that Washington had interest in Callahan, and that the two sides could reach an agreement quickly.
While Callahan officially held the title of offensive coordinator in Dallas in 2014, Scott Linehan was the club’s play-caller, with Callahan focusing more on the offensive line. Word broke today that Linehan has been officially promoted to OC this week in Dallas, so it was inevitable that Callahan would look for an opportunity elsewhere. With no indication that Washington offensive coordinator Sean McVay is going anywhere, Callahan figures to be named the team’s offensive line coach.
With the Cowboys, Callahan helped to develop many of the team’s young linemen, including Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin. Dallas’ offensive line was widely regarded as the league’s best in 2014, as the unit paved the way for a career year for DeMarco Murray, and earned All-Pro nods for both Smith and Martin. According to Werder (via Twitter), the Cowboys would’ve liked to make a counter-offer to retain Callahan, but the early bidding got too high for the team.