In his first season as a head coach, Callahan led the Raiders to a third consecutive AFC West title and the franchise's first Super Bowl since returning to Oakland, making him just the fourth rookie head coach in NFL history to do so. The Raiders suffered a lopsided defeat in Super Bowl XXXVII losing 48–21 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coached by his former boss Jon Gruden. It did not help that the Raiders were without starting center Barret Robbins, the leader of their offensive line. Robbins went into a manic episode after not taking his medication, and spent most of the day before the game in Tijuana believing the Raiders had already won. When he finally resurfaced, he was so incoherent that Callahan had no choice but to leave him off the roster.