When the Cincinnati Bengals hired a group of extremely inexperienced position coaches in the 2019 offseason, I will admit that I fully expected them to be fired within two years. Current Head Coach Zac Taylor had only been coaches in the NFL for a total of six seasons at that point and based on his choices on the coaching staff, I was sure that no one who had worked with him had been that impressed based on the inexperienced candidates that he brought with him. I can very happily admit now in the 2024 offseason that I was incredibly wrong with my analysis at the time as Taylor has completed three winning seasons in a row.
Bengals Offensive Coordinator is Most Tenured OC in the NFL
Along with Taylor, I have been incredibly impressed with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. After he finished a disappointing season as the secondary coach of a struggling New York Giants team, Anarumo has done a tremendous job establishing a desire for turnovers and big plays on the defense. While the Cincinnati defensive coordinator has done a tremendous job, the offensive side has surely been the big story over Taylor’s tenure.
In 2019, Taylor decided to bring in the quarterbacks coach from the disastrous 4-12 Oakland Raiders team named Brian Callahan. After hopping around the league as an offensive assistant, Callahan has enjoyed a rapid rise to success after going from offensive assistant to offensive coordinator in a short four year period. Callahan can be considered NFL royalty after his father Bill Callahan has held a slew of high level offensive coaching jobs including being the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2002 to 2003.
While it is always difficult for an offensive coordinator to gain respect from around the league while under an offensive minded head coach (ask Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy how it felt under Head Coach Andy Reid), Callahan has clearly established himself as an elite offensive mind. Cincinnati has put an insane amount of effort over the past four seasons establishing an elite offense by drafting two star players in the top 10 (Quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019 and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in 2020) and completely rebuilding the offensive line from the ground up.
Specifically in 2023, Callahan faced his biggest challenge yet as his starting quarterback struggled with a slew of injuries that only allowed him about two or three truly healthy games. After Burrow finally suffered a season ending injury in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens, Callahan was forced to completely rewrite the script on offense to accommodate the less experienced backup Jake Browning. Under Burrow’s strict supervision and Callahan’s reimagined system, Browning managed to obtain a quarterback rating of 98.4 which was good enough for seventh best in the NFL.
Part of the disadvantage of hiring successful coaches like Brian Callahan is that other teams will take notice and there will be some risk of their best talent being hired away by competing teams. Callahan specifically has garnered interest from several teams including the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers regarding their head coaching vacancies. After managing to keep Cincinnati at a winning record this season, it is apparent that Callahan is a talented coach. Remarkably at this point, Callahan has actually become the most tenured offensive coordinator in the NFL at a “long” four seasons on the job.
I would argue if Callahan were to leave, Tennessee would be the best fir for him as they managed to quickly develop budding star quarterback Will Levis last season. Levis may not have the raw talent of Burrow but he does seem to have an excellent array of leadership skills as he played a terrific game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. In that game, the young gunslinger delivered some terrific throws while being blasted by the elite Pittsburgh pass rush. Under Callahan, the system could be tweaked to shine the spotlight on Levis’ strengths and also diminish his weaknesses.
Cincinnati may actually end up in a bind if Callahan draws out his decision much longer because their next highest ranking offensive coach Dan Pitcher has recently taken interviews with the Patriots and Saints to become their next offensive coordinator. Pitcher has been the Cincinnati quarterbacks coach for the past eight seasons and has been instrumental in getting the most out of Burrow and before him former starter Andy Dalton. If Callahan waits too long, Cincinnati could find themselves poached of their entire offensive coaching staff.
For a long time, I didn’t think much of the Cincinnati coaching staff as I compared them to a complete band of misfits early on in their tenure. I will fully eat crow though and admit that the unit has done a terrific job turning around a perennial cellar team and turning them into a contender. Regardless of what happens down the line, I wish the best to the whole Cincinnati coaching staff and thank them for turning my hometown team into something to be proud of.
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