Bengals OC Brian Callahan explains the fun of scheme continuity
Five years in the NFL is not a short amount of time. It's greater than how long an average player's career lasts in the league. But having a job and having the same job for that period of time are two different things entirely. Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan can appreciate the distinction. Now entering […]
Five years in the NFL is not a short amount of time. It's greater than how long an average player's career lasts in the league. But having a job and having the same job for that period of time are two different things entirely.
Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan can appreciate the distinction.
Now entering year five on the job in Cincy, Callahan can already recognize the benefit of having an established scheme in place with the Bengals' offense, and how that impacts offseason work.
Part of that entails a quicker acclimation process. Sometimes it's just players diving into more advanced things specific to their positions. Whatever the case may be, Callahan has seen the effect this year.
"It's really fun to be five years into a program because we're so much less focused on what everybody's supposed to do and we're really really drilling down on the hows and the whys," Callahan said on the Locked On Bengals Podcast. "Some bigger picture things that go on as far as understanding. Guys move on to more positions, more places to line up. You can have a lot more fun when you're not just worried about what am I supposed to do on this play? Or what does this word mean?
"It allows us to really sink into the fundamental part of everything and that's the most fun. You get these guys that are trying new techniques, working through some different fundamental stuff that's experimental for them, you know? And I think that especially guys like Ja'Marr [Chase] and Tee [Higgins]."
By picking up where they left off in 2022, the Bengals' overall continuity from a coaching and schematic perspective have them further along than most teams in the NFL. This is only amplified by having the quarterback position very much settled.
Joe Burrow is entering his fourth year in the league, and fourth year with this staff. The offense has undoubtedly evolved around him, tailoring to both his strengths and the strengths of he offense's personnel alike, but Burrow's command and "mastery" of the system is standing out to Callahan this year.
"What's fun for me this year with Burrow has been when we get to these meetings and we watch seven-on-seven together and Joe almost coaches those guys," Callahan said. "He's very clear on what he expects from certain routes, where he wants guys to be, the timing that it happens. It's really fun to listen to him explain to everybody what he wants.
"That part's really fun because he's got mastery over our system now, which is a really cool thing to watch him grow in that to be able to almost become more like a coach."
No one has more of an impact on the field than the quarterback. Naturally, he's going to develop and hone coaching traits of his own over time. Burrow making this transition in the eyes of his offensive coordinator has happened over the course of his still young career, but seeing it unfold as the environment around him remains stable bodes well for the offense as a whole.
Burrow's accelerated development over the past three seasons has a lot to do with the Bengals keeping his surroundings intact. No play-caller changes, no learning entirely new systems, nothing to disrupt his growth. All changes that have been were to better his fit within the offense, instead of forcing him to change for the sake of change.
Coach Burrow is becoming a master in his own right.
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The plan is coming together for Cincinnati’s offense.
Featured image via © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
