Cincinnati Bengals Must Consider Making Big Change on Offense to Retain Top Coach

CINCINNATI — Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher wants to be a head coach in the NFL. He's helped the Bengals become a potent offense—even when Joe Burrow has missed time. So what else does he have to be one of the top head coaching candidates in the league?

Call plays.

Pitcher knows he needs to be an offensive playcaller if he's going to vault into the same category that Ben Johnson, Liam Cohen and other successful coordinators that went on to become good head coaches.

Pitcher was a serious candidate for the Browns head coaching job and interviewed with Cleveland, but he hasn't been brought in by any other franchise for an interview. It's clearly why he asked for permission to interview for a playcalling offensive coordinator job.

Tampa Bay reached out, Pitcher is interested and head coach Zac Taylor gave him permission to interview with the Buccaneers—a franchise that showed interest in him three years ago.

Multiple coaches are in the running for the Bucs offensive coordinator job, including former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and former Titans head coach Brian Callahan.

That's right. Both Callahan and Pitcher are in the mix for the same job. Callahan spent five seasons in Cincinnati as their offensive coordinator before becoming the Titans head coach. He'd be the natural replacement for Pitcher if he were to leave the Bengals for another job.

With Pitcher clearly open to leaving for a playcalling opportunity and Callahan interviewing with the Chargers and Buccaneers for their open offensive coordinator job, there's one question Taylor and the Bengals must ask themselves: is it time to make a change?

Should Taylor continue to call the Bengals offensive plays, if it's going to cost them key pieces of their organization and limit who they'll be able to hire for that role?

There's no guarantee that Callahan or Pitcher get offers to be playcalling offensive coordinators, but it goes without saying that every offensive coordinator wants that role. The same thing goes for McDaniel, Joe Brady and any other top offensive mind that you'd want to pair with Joe Burrow.

The Bengals offensive coordinator job is a great gig and it will put coaches in position to elevate their stature in NFL circles, but Taylor and the front office need to make sure they aren't losing and missing out on quality coaches because of their current setup.

If the Bengals truly believe in Pitcher and he gets an offer to call plays, they need to serious consider giving him that opportunity in Cincinnati. The same goes for Callahan, Brady and anyone else that could be in line for the job.

If Pitcher gets hired by Tampa and Los Angeles makes an offer to Callahan, the Bengals would have to ask themselves if it's worth missing out on a coach at the top of their list just so Taylor can continue to be the offensive playcaller.

For more on the Bengals, subscribe to our YouTube Channel and be sure to check us out on your favorite audio platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Amazon.

Make sure you bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more! We're a one-stop shop for all things Cincinnati Bengals!

Join the 115,000+ Bengals Fans That Have Liked Our Facebook Page

Subscribe and follow the Locked On Bengals Podcast: the ONLY Daily Bengals Podcast

Join the 49,000+ Bengals Fans That Follow Us on TikTok