Bengals Beat: With Brian Callahan Headed to Tennessee, What Now For Joe Burrow And The Offense?

CINCINNATI — It was only a matter of time.

Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan was going to get his shot at one of the 32 most-prized jobs in the NFL.

On Monday, the Tennessee Titans came calling for a second interview with the coordinator of the Bengals offense since 2019, the only coordinator Zac Taylor has had in his five-year tenure as head coach.

With two weeks remaining, Taylor was asked about the significance of Callahan on his staff and whether the lack of play-calling duties (held by Taylor) would impact any potential head coach job down the road.

“He has helped develop every position we have,” Taylor beamed. “He’s invaluable. There’s really not enough things I can say about him. If somebody just followed us for a week and saw, it would be, ‘Oh, no wonder everybody is so high on Brian.’ It’s just a matter of opportunity and getting to talk to the right people. I have no doubt he will be successful.

“That’s just people that don’t actually know. He needs to call plays? Why? Nobody can say that, it’s something people parrot out there. He’s been the coordinator here for five years. He coordinates everything having to do with it. He establishes the whole structure of our offense. On game day, he and I are in constant communication. That is calling plays. That is establishing an offense. He knows everything I go through on a daily basis as a head coach. He and I both. He’s as prepared as anybody can be prepared for it.”

The Bengals were given a one-year reprieve last offseason when both the Cardinals and Colts moved on from Callahan in the interview process. While the year was filled with intense disappointment, heartbreak and one huge Joe Burrow wrist injury, the offense with Jake Browning proved that Callahan could adjust on the run.

It’s these qualities the Titans clearly saw in their two interview chances with Callahan and why they reportedly offered him the job.

Callahan will be busy building his own staff while Taylor must now decide what to do about the offensive coordinator opening on his staff.

There’s an assumption that if quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher doesn’t wind up in New Orleans, Las Vegas or New England, it’s his job, a natural and logical ascension.

But not so fast, at least according to Taylor.

“There’s an interview process that will take place that’s very necessary,” Taylor told Dave Lapham on the “In The Trenches” podcast, regarding any offensive coordinator opening with the presumed departure of Callahan to Nashville.

One fan of Pitcher for the OC job would certainly be the most important player on the roster. In his four seasons in Cincinnati, Joe Burrow has only known Callahan as the OC and has only had Pitcher as his quarterbacks coach.

“We mesh so well in the meeting room and on the sideline,” Burrow said before the 2022 AFC Championship game in KC in Jan. 2023. “We have a great working relationship. I say this all the time but I couldn’t ask for a better group of coaches for my skill set and what I do.”

Other names to keep an eye on:

Troy Walters:

Has been on Taylor’s staff and was the offensive coordinator of the high-powered UCF Knights when they went undefeated in 2017 and was the OC with Nebraska in 2018-19 before joining the Bengals in 2020 as an assistant receivers coach.

Joe Brady:

Whenever Joe Burrow is involved, this name gets tossed around because of their incredibly prolific 2019 season, when Brady was the passing game coordinator. Brady is gainfully employed by the Bills as their interim OC who took over mid-season for Ken Dorsey. Brady, only 34, has already been an NFL OC with Carolina in 2020-21.

Brad Kragthorpe:

Would be a natural to move up as quarterbacks coach under Pitcher, Walters or Brady. Only 31, finished his first season as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2023 after spending the previous two seasons (2021-22) as assistant wide receivers coach. Came onto the staff in 2019 as an offensive assistant.

Be sure of one thing, Zac Taylor was prepared for this day months and years ago. Taylor – along with Joe Burrow – will put a priority on making sure the smartest minds are in the room when they are scheming for the next opponent or on the sideline when their quarterback needs the right call at the right time.

If Pitcher stays, that only helps the depth chart on the coaching staff. If not, then we’re about to find out how good Taylor is at working his contacts around the NFL and the college game.