Bengals fans should prepare for a familiar face to return if Dan Pitcher takes another offensive coordinator job
There won’t be an extensive search if the Bengals need to hire a new offensive coordinator.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is allowing offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher to interview with other NFL teams looking for a play-calling OC. Pitcher has an interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers later this week, and other teams that still need a play-caller now know they can hit his line in the coming days.
Pitcher isn’t gone from Cincinnati just yet, but Taylor opening this door does beg the question as to why he’s so willing to let his OC walk away.
The most logical explanation is Taylor knows exactly where to look to replace Pitcher, and is confident in being able to land his replacement.
That replacement is Brian Callahan, and the evidence is obvious.
Brian Callahan would be welcomed back to the Bengals in a heartbeat
Taylor hired Callahan as his first OC back in 2019, a promotion from his previous gig as the Oakland Raiders’ quarterbacks coach under then-HC Jon Gruden. He was Joe Burrow’s first OC in 2020, and helped tailor Burrow’s offense during the club’s rise to relevancy in 2021.
All five of Cincinnati’s playoff victories this decade (and century) were with Callahan as Taylor’s right-hand man. Pitcher was the QB coach at the time, slowly growing more influential in his own right, but Callahan was a critical architect in the offense despite Taylor calling the plays like he always has.
Callahan’s rise paved way for him landing the Tennessee Titans head-coaching job in 2024, a position he could only hold for 21 games before being fired in the middle of the 2025 season. Tennessee was the worst team in the NFL during Callahan’s first year, and despite drafting QB Cam Ward No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Titans were heading down the same road this past season.
Not everyone works out as a HC. Josh McDaniels would be one of the first to tell you that. The long-time New England Patriots OC experienced two contentiously unsuccessful stints as the head of an NFL staff, and is now back to where he belongs in Foxborough, about to call plays in another AFC Championship Game this weekend.
The Bengals would not hold Callahan’s failure in Nashville against him. They would actually begin and, realistically, end their search calling his number.
“Cincinnati would open the search and weigh all options, of course, and timing can be tricky with all the jobs that are in the air right now, but Callahan would be the leader in the clubhouse for the job by a wide margin.” — The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.
Much like Al Golden, who was hired as Talyor’s defensive coordinator three years after he left the Bengals, Callahan is a familiar face Taylor trusts to handle such an important job. Taylor needs all the trustworthinesses he can find entering 2026 as the temperature of his seat should be the hottest it’s been since the end of 2020 when he was a 6-25-1 coach.
Knowing he has a good chance of re-hiring Callahan is the only rational reason why he’s risking losing the guy who successfully replaced him two years ago. Cincinnati fans won’t need to research a bevy of possible candidates if the position becomes vacant. It won’t be vacant for long if Callahan remains on the market.
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