Crucial advice helped convince Dan Pitcher to stay with Bengals
In hiring Dan Pitcher as their offensive coordinator, the Cincinnati Bengals got exactly what they wanted after Brian Callahan crossed the Mason-Dixon line.It takes two to tango, and Pitcher wouldn't have stuck around if he didn't want to.Pitcher's been with the Bengals for nearly a decade, longer than even head coach Zac Taylor. He had […]
In hiring Dan Pitcher as their offensive coordinator, the Cincinnati Bengals got exactly what they wanted after Brian Callahan crossed the Mason-Dixon line.
It takes two to tango, and Pitcher wouldn't have stuck around if he didn't want to.
Pitcher's been with the Bengals for nearly a decade, longer than even head coach Zac Taylor. He had opportunities to leave, but none of them have what the Bengals have in quarterback Joe Burrow.
Pitcher and Burrow staying together
While staying in Cincinnati was what Pitcher considered "the ideal scenario," it didn't hurt to have outside voices tell him continuing to coach an elite QB in Burrow is the right decision.
"Yeah, it's huge," Pitcher said of staying with No. 9. "There's a lot of people in this profession that I respect who have great perspective who have reached out to me, and almost to a person, their advice is: when you have an elite quarterback, you hang on as long as you can. And we have that here."
Burrow didn't start out elite, despite entering the NFL on the heels of one of the greatest seasons a college QB ever had. The work Pitcher put in with Burrow over the course of four years has culminated into the Bengals having a chance against any team in the league. His growth on the field matters just as much to Pitcher as what he's like out of pads.
"Not only is he an elite player," Pitcher said of Burrow. "I've gotten to know him so well as a person. He's a special person. He's different. They don't make many like him."
Being directly linked to the progression and success of a top quarterback will garner attention 10 times out of 10. And the more success the Bengals have, the more opportunities will open up for the 37-year old Pitcher.
"To get to continue working with him day in and day out, knowing that we have a guy that can can win us a world championship, it's hard to put a price on that."
A price too good to pass up will eventually hit Pitcher's inbox if the Bengals do win it all with him as the OC.
For now, his priorities are making sure that if becomes a when.
Bengals get all the validation they need for recent hire
One voice matters more than most.
