Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Oh Danibo addition, as I go one on one with the Bengals new offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the original rules of basketball.
In eighteen ninety one, doctor James Nasmith, a phizit instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts, was looking for a way for his students to get indoor exercise during the cold New England winter months, so he wrote down thirteen rules for a new game he called basket ball. That original document, now one hundred and thirty three years old, still exists and
I saw it this week. Doctor Nasmith eventually became the first head coach at the University of Kansas, and when his family auctioned off the original rules several years ago, a wealthy Kansas alum purchased them for more than four million dollars so that they could be permanently displayed at KU. Think about it, There's nothing else like it in sports. Nobody scribbled down the original rules of football or golf, for baseball, or any of the other major sports, so
it was really cool to see. If you would like to learn more, check out the ESPN thirty for thirty documentary called There's No Place Like Home. Now let's get to the Bengals new offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. The job became open when Brian Callahan was named the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans. A couple of hours before Brian spoke to the media in Nashville on Thursday, Zach Taylor was asked how proud he was of his friend and colleague.
That's hard to describe. You know, how much he's meant to me, how much he meant to pitch this organization for all these guys. It's it's hard when you work side by side, you know, with the guy for five years. And like Pitch said that the the lows to the highs, trying to problem solve through unsolvable problems, it felt like sometimes and he was as steady as they come. And and so Tennessee got a good one. And it's the right place. It's the right opportunity for him. I hate
that it's in the conference. I hate that we play him next year. I kind of like that we play him next year. Uh, there's we'll see where it poppsed up on the schedule. But you know, just really really happy for him and Allison and and it's you know, he's waited a long time for that opportunity. He's been prepared for a long time for that opportunity. I think the right place came calling for him. And I'm really happy the way it felt out. I know it felt
right for him. And and we'll hear more, you know, one what he says in his press conferences. We'll be watching anxiously to see him on that stage, but really really happy that it worked out for him.
And when they watched Brian's introductory news conference, they saw him get very emotional when he described his five years in Cincinnati.
I would like to thank the Cincinnati Bengals organization, Mike Brown, who was one of probably one of the greatest men that I've ever met. I'll get it together in a second, No worry. Katy and Troy Blackburn, their daughters, Elizabeth, the Caroline, and Duke Tobin and his staff. They gave me an incredible opportunity to grow, and they're patient and they invested in me, and I'll forever be grateful for that. The next one you can see how much these people mean to me.
I'll get it together.
And then, probably most importantly, Zach Taylor. He's a great friend, He's been an incredible mentor, and he's a fantastic football coach. Thank you for everything, all right, thank you to the players and the coaching staff. Obviously, without an incredible amount of hard work, I don't get to stand here. And there's a lot of people that go into that staff, players, particularly the quarterback room, Joe Burrow, Jake Browning, those guys are I'm incredibly indebted to. I wish I could list
the whole team, but I can't. We'll be here too long. You guys would get bored. But I loved working with those players every day. There's something special about where I came from that I hope to replicate here. I think you can see it and how I feel when I speak about it. But I love going to work every single day there. And that's the environment we're going to
create here. I want a place where people love coming to work, they enjoy every they're around, and that creates an environment that sustainable and you can have sustained excellence and have a chance to win a lot of football games. And so that's what we're after.
Brian was later asked what he learned from working with Zach Taylor.
The greatest thing about Zach for me and my experience in Cincinnati was he was an open book, and so I was involved in a lot of the things that came across his desk, a lot of conversations, very involved in the scouting process in Cincinnati as a lot of you know, and so just seeing all of those processes work over five years, seeing the pitfalls and problems where the land mines can be. His allowing me that access
to those conversations has been huge. And I walk into this role today and I'm sure there'll be plenty of surprises, but I feel very confident that I'm prepared for it. And it's because of his his allowance and access to what occurred on a daily basis, and he would often come by and say, hey, this, you should think about this for a second, then to write this down when you're doing this, here's how you should handle it. So just incredible, incredible investment in me to help me grow
on that. And again, I feel because of all those experiences, I'm kind of uniquely positioned for my first time doing this.
I feel really good about it.
I can honestly say that I don't know anybody who knows Brian Callahan that doesn't like and respect him. He's smart, friendly, funny, and, for lack of a better word, normal, which isn't always the case among football coaches. He'll be missed in Cincinnati, but it's impossible not to be thrilled for him, and fortunately the Bengals had a great replacement waiting in the
wings in quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. The Patriots, Raiders, and Saints reached out to Dan about their offensive coordinator openings, but being the OC of an offense with Joe burrowod quarterback is hard to pass up a.
Lot of people in this profession that I respect, who have great perspective, who have reached out to me almost to a person, you know. Their advice is, when you have an elite quarterback, you hang on as long as you can. And we have that here. And not only is he an elite player, but you know, I've gotten to know him so well as a person. He's a special person. He's different. They don't make many like him.
And to get to continue working with him day in and day out, knowing that we have a guy that can win us a world championship, it's hard to put a price on that.
By now, you've probably either watched Dan Pitcher's news conference online or read one of the many stories written after that news conference. When I sat down with Dan later in the day, I was aiming for something a little different, a more personal look at how he landed one of only thirty two offensive coordinator jobs in the NFL. As hard as you've worked for it is a little bit mind boggling to have one of these jobs. I don't mind boggling is the word.
It's it's definitely an opportunity to just kind of take a look at your career and all the stops up at this point and all the people that have helped you get here. Really, I think that's probably the the best part of this for me, is just you know, all the people that have reached out and getting a chance to thank them, because we're all products of people that have helped us along the way. And I've earned this and I know that, and I'm very proud of that. But there's no way I did it by myself.
I found an old quote from your mom. She said, I remember Dan at a young age sitting at the coffee table in the living room drawing plays, the x's and o's on paper. Do you remember doing that?
I don't.
I don't remember drawing plays. I do remember having like a weird obsession with when the Super Bowl would come along, or March Manas or whatever. My mom would buy me these poster boards and I would I would color the whole field in and I would I would make the
players and I would arrange them informations. And it's that that may be what she's remembering, but I mean, like, listen, this is I've loved this game for as long as I can remember, and the fact that I've got got to make it my profession and have gotten to this level with this opportunity in front of me. Is it's very special.
Did you always have an interest in how and why plays worked? Oh?
Yeah, big time. That's you know, it's the curiosity of that, you know, that's when I sit in here and study for days on end in the off season, or when I'm getting when I'm game planning and I'm pouring over tape. And I love that part of it, I really do. You know, It's it's a passion of mine and just exploring those very questions, you know, how and why and then can we do this or not? Do we have the right people for it? Are we're playing the right
playing against the right scheme? You know all those things. That's that's a major part of what I love about this job.
You are a highly successful quarterback at the Division III level at Cortland State, reigning national champs by the way, congratulations for that, But you weren't an overnight success. How long were you in college?
Well, not as long as some of the guys these days with COVID years and multiple transfers, but it was a long time. So I graduated high school in two thousand and five. I spent two plus years at Colgate. I sat out a season. I had a medical red shirt. From that time I went to Courtland, I had another medical red shirt. I petitioned for some more time, and I think I ultimately reported to seven training camps and
played six seasons. So it was a long time. I believe I've caught the brunt of many jokes.
A long years. What were the injuries that you dealt with?
I had a shoulder labor and repair and torn achilles.
So after you graduated, I read that you wrote letters to NFL coaches in college coaches seeking an entry level opportunity. Roughly how many and did anybody get back to you?
Yeah. So I'm going to give Paul Alexander a lot of credit here and when I talk about people that helped me get to where I am, you know, Paul just out of the goodness of his heart, decided to take me under his wing when I'm twenty one years old and now he made me do some manual labor for it at his at his summerhouse it's on Skinny Alas Lake. But in the process he he really guided me. And one of the things he suggested was Hey, listen,
sit down. I want you to handwrite a letter to the head coach of every NFL team and every Power five college conference and tell him who you are, tell him what you're about, tell him what you'd like to do, and see if it leads anywhere. And so I did. I wrote one or two a day, and you know, I probably have Carpel tunnel syndrome from that experience, but I did. I got some back, you know, there were some. I got a couple of handwritten responses. I got some.
You know. It led to ultimately a couple of chances to go interview for graduate assistant ships and what could have opened some doors. And ultimately, you know, one of those letters I wrote was to Ryan Grigson, who's the new GM of Indianapolis Colts. Got to meet him in person and and that was my start.
So for those who don't know, Paul Alexander is the former Bengals offensive line coach and like you, he went to Courtland State. Was he taking care of another red dragon or do you think you impressed him in some way when you first.
Met I think he asked about those questions, you know, I think he saw an opportunity to pay it forward with the position that he had worked himself to. And as with anything in life, it's about who you know, but it's about making the right impression on who you know and who you meet. And I think he was impressed with me, and he knew that if he, you know, if he stamped me and and put his name on me to people that could potentially give me opportunities, that
I wasn't going to disappoint him. And so I think I've on that and I'm forever grateful.
We're visiting with Dan Pitcher, the Bengals new offensive coordinator. So you take a job with the Colts as a scouting assistant under Ryan Griggs, and you mentioned him their GM at the time. What does an entry level scouting assistant fresh out of college.
Do anything he gets told to do. He picks up guys from the airport for workouts at midnight, He carts him around town to doctor's appointments. He locks himself in a closet with a film system and breaks down college players and puts together what we used to call profile tapes, which is something that all these services that we now subscribe to do for you. But that was before those the days of those services. You really just immerse yourself in the world of football, and you do it at
a level where there's no job too small. And my mentality when I took that job was to go into that building, put my head down, speak when spoken to for two years and proved everyone that I was about the right stuff and trust that when I picked my head up after that, you know, people would be invested in my success and be willing to open doors for me. And that's exactly what happened.
I'm guessing you were not getting rich.
No no, no, no, no no. My my wife, who was by then fiance, had moved out to she had finished school, so I was out there by myself for a year and then she moved out and she was nannying for a couple families and let's just say she was the bread winner.
Thank you, missus Pitcher for helping make this happen. So you were hired by the Colts right when they drafted Andrew Luck. Were you stunned when he retired at twenty nine?
Yeah? Sure. You know, it's been a long time since I've talked to Andrew. Andrew it was always amazing to me. He's a great person, He treated people the right way. It was so fun to watch him lead in his own way and just how authentic it was and how great he was at his job. And you know, and unfortunately for him, I think just the injuries and and everything kind of piled up, and you know, it probably
cut his career short. But you know, at the end of the day, and again, having not spoken to him in a really long time, I'd be willing to bet that he's very happy and fulfilled doing whatever it is he's doing right now, because I know that's the kind of person he is. And but yeah, I mean, you talk about stepping into the NFL and your first experience is getting to watch him every day. That was pretty cool.
Does his story and that cautionary tale have any impact on your desire to try to protect Joe Burrow as much as any coach possibly can.
I mean sure, you know, I think for me when I sit down and you know it's been talked about, well, you know, I've done their downs and and I've you know, had influence in other areas as well. But when you're talking about the passing game, the first, the very first thing that I always start with is how do we not get the quarterback hit. That's just philosophically what I believe in, and that can take on a variety of
different things. Some weeks, that might mean getting empty and spread them all out and let them see it and just find quick answers and they can never hit him because they can't get to him in time. Some weeks that might mean seven or eight man protection based on the defensive looks that we're getting and the personnel that we're facing. So that doesn't that philosophy doesn't tie me to a specific schematic approach, but it is a foundation
for how I look at things. And keeping the quarterback clean is everybody's job, including the quarterback, and it's about playing on time. It's about putting the things in place to be able to distribute the ball before the rush can get there, and then drilling and working on things that let you elude the rush when it does come, because it always it's gonna come. You watch every obviously in one of these games, and I mean, those guys a getting paid a lot of money to get after
the quarterbacks. So but yeah, that's a central component to how I think about offensive football.
Your first years, the quarterbacks coach was Joe's first year as the Bengals quarterback. I'm going to ask you to be immodest here. How do you think you've helped Joe Burrow?
Well, I think Joe and I are able to relate to one another. I think we share some personality traits. Unfortunately for me, I don't share any of the elite, world class skill that he has, but I think we look at things similarly, and so for that reason, I think he's respected my opinion on things from a very really from the start, and so it's allowed us to have some i think, really kind of truthful conversations about hard topics at times, and I think he respects where
I'm coming from on those. He will seek out my opinion when it comes to things like that, and I think it's helped him get to where he is today. You know, now, again, he deserves the line's share of the credit because he's the guy doing it, but everybody needs people around him to help put him in a spot to succeed. And I'm proud of the part that I've played in that, and now I'm excited that I get to play an even bigger part moving forward.
In year two. Working together the Bengals go to the Super Bowl. You are about to be a dad for the first time. I think your son was born about ten days after that Super Bowl. What are your most vivid memories of Super Bowl fifty six.
Well, I mean just the whole process, everything leading up to that, you know that, you know, month to whatever it was, six weeks and just kind of groundbreaking win after groundbreaking win, and the just elation that came with each of those, and the feelings that you have in the locker of a room, and you know, just the fulfillment that comes from that. The super Bowl experience in and of itself really, you know, to me, I tried to make it as normal a week as I could
make it. I wanted it to feel like my normal prep leading up into the game. And I think I did a pretty good job of that. And and we I mean, shoot, it just felt like we were going to win another game. It really did, all the way all the way through, you know, and and it really the pain of the outcome is there and will always
be there, you know. I just remember waking up the next morning and you have that brief moment where you start to get yourself together and remember what the heck, just happened, and and it just it just sits in your stomach, and it sits for a long long time. But it doesn't it doesn't take away the joy they came with that. And what it does do is absolutely fuel the fire to get back and not wake up with that pit in your stomach the next time, but to be parted in for a month straight.
It's been well documented that at this time last year you turned out an opportunity to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Why did you stay for this?
You know, for this opportunity here? So much had gone into just the equity that I think built up in this building with these people, with mister Brown and the Brown and Blackburn families and Zach and Duke and all the you know, the person the guys in personnel and
the coach. I mean, it's just like it just felt like, I mean, yeah, this is an enticing opportunity, but it's the timing is not right, and you're gut If you just be patient and you just trust in yourself and the organization, this opportunity that you're sitting here interviewing me about is gonna is gonna come to fruition and sure. Were there moments where you think, like, oh man, maybe
it won't. Yeah, but that's okay. Like I knew that when I when I decided what I decided, and I was okay with that, and I'm just I'm really happy that it's worked out.
If Brian Callahan did not get an NFL head coaching job this year, would you have taken an offensive coordinator opportunity somewhere else?
I think at some point, if you're serious about growing in your profession, there there there becomes a point where you're you're left with no other choice. Would that have been this year? Maybe again, depending on situation. Uh, but it's fun that that will forever be hypothetical and and not something I actually had to decide.
We're visiting with Dan Pitcher. Brian interviewed for just about every NFL head coaching opportunity that was out there before he was hired by the Titan, and many teams that had offensive coordinator opportunities reached out to you. How much do you think that your success, the team success with Jake Browning this year and what he showed late in the season, had to do with all of the interest that you and Brian received.
I think it was a big deal. I think anytime you have an elite player at the quarterback position, sometimes I don't necessarily think that maybe it gets enough acknowledgment or respect that the things you have to put around that player still for him to have the success that he has. But certainly when that player is removed and you demonstrate that you're able to still have success with the number two guy, I think that's a big deal.
Because we all know that injuries are a certainty. It's not a matter of if but when, and you do everything in your power to avoid them, but when they do happen, you have to be able to adjust. That's what we get to do. It's not you can't just throw a towel in and say, Okay, try again next year. And we did that, and Jake deserves a ton of
credit because we did put great plans around him. But I always say it, and I mean it truly, like there's one guy that catches the ball, and there's one guy that makes the decisions, there's one guy that makes the throws, and Jake did a great, great job, and so I do think that mattered. I think that showed people that we have a good system we have the ability to adapt and we can take whatever's given to us and go be successful.
Well, the Bengals offense looked different next year, and do you want it to look different?
I think every year brings with it opportunity to grow. That's been my experience every year i've been here. You look at number one, It all starts with who are your players? Like that's to me. I don't think you have the luxury at this level of just saying this is what we do and stop it. You have to have an identity, no doubt, but you also have to be able to adapt, and those adaptations are based on
who you have playing football for you. And so that's what the next couple months is about, is building the roster for the twenty twenty four Bengals. And once we get all those things in place, we obviously have ideas of what we want to be able to do as an offense. And then once that roster it becomes solidified, you may start to lean in one direction or another.
So I can't say with any specificity what those changes may be, if there will be changes, I just know that our process is one that is open minded and is willing to pivot and go in whatever direction we feel like we need to go to win football games.
There are three games left in the season, the championship games this weekend, the Super Bowl after that. Do you watch those games like the rest of us or are you studying? Man, that's something that we can do offensively next year and beyond.
When I watch them on the couch, I'm more like the rest of us because I love the game, you know, and probably to a degree that my wife would would argue is unhealthy, But that's I lean into it. So I love football. I love watching it. Now as I'm watching it, do I see things that I mean, sure, I'm not above writing a little reminder in my phone if I see a play that popped up or something that happened, and and then I'll go back to it, you know, when I get into my office and I
study it. So the answer to your question is yes to both. In the moment, I'm enjoying it. And then, you know, as much as someone who desperately would like to be in that situation can enjoy something like that, because it's a reminder that you're watching it on the couch and you're not there, and we've been there. I mean, let's be honest, we're having this conversation right now at a time in the last two seasons where we'd have been getting ready to go out on practice field right now,
and that stings. But it's also good that it stings, because we know what we're capable of and we'll do everything in our power to get back there.
Last thing for Dan Pitcher, Brian Callahan, ascend it to a head coaching position from the job that you have now. I assume that that is the goal for you. Have you already started planning for the day that you will be an NFL head coach.
I think the best way to put myself in position to ultimately have that opportunity is to be the absolute best offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals that I can be. I think there's a lot of carryover when it comes to this job and that job, and I would be foolish if every ounce of my effort wasn't going into this current role. And I think if I do that and I do this job well, those other things will
take care of themselves. And so I come in here with a clear mind and that approach, and man, I'm just I'm really, really excited that I get to do it.
This is a well deserved opportunity. We're really excited for you. I appreciate your time today and best of what going forward. Thanks Dan, that's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.