Former Bengals coach is taking on a new challenge, and role, under the leadership of familiar names
Brian Callahan has landed another coaching job in the NFC.
Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan has found his next coaching job.
Per NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, Callahan is being hired as the new quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the New York Giants.
Callahan was Cincinnati’s OC from 2019-23 before becoming the head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2024. Tennessee fired him during the 2025 season, freeing him up to take an assistant’s role this offseason.
A return to the Bengals for Callahan became an interesting possibility last month when OC Dan Pitcher was garnering interest from other clubs. If Pitcher had left to become the Cleveland Browns HC, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC, hiring back Callahan to the position he left two years ago was the likely contingency plan for HC Zac Taylor.
Pitcher isn’t going anywhere, and Callahan is headed to the Big Apple to coach under two names he knows well.
Brian Callahan joins forces with John Harbaugh, Matt Nagy after years of battling against them
Callahan will be tasked with coaching up Giants second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart and spearheading New York’s passing attack. He’ll be doing so under the direction of HC John Harbaugh and OC Matt Nagy.
Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens for nearly 20 years, including all five years Callahan was the Bengals OC. He’s seen what kind of offense Callahan was a major influence in building during the early years of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins’ careers.
The Giants’ offense will be called by Nagy, who was the Kansas City Chiefs OC for the last three years. He re-joined the organization in 2022 as the QB coach after his run as the Chicago Bears HC ended after four years. Callahan’s offense in Cincinnati took down Kansas City in Nagy’s first year back with the Chiefs, but lost a month later in the AFC Championship Game and a year later with Jake Browning at QB in the penultimate week of the 2023 season.
So much of the NFL and its hiring process revolves around who you know, and what you’ve done against those who hire you. Callahan will use what he’s learned coaching against Harbaugh and Nagy’s teams and hope to revitalize his own career as a first-time passing game coordinator along with being one of the main voices in Dart’s ear.
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