Report: Cincinnati Bengals OC Brian Callahan emerging as hot head coaching candidate

Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is emerging as a hot head coaching candidate, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported Sunday.

Callahan, 39, has interviewed virtually with multiple teams already, and the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons all plan to bring him in for a second interview this week.

#Bengals OC Brian Callahan is emerging as a hot head coaching candidate: The #Titans, #Panthers and #Falcons all plan to bring him in for a second interview this week, per sources.

More on Callahan from my feature last year:pic.twitter.com/xiTETEbp3o

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 21, 2024

Callahan has spent the last five seasons in Cincinnati under head coach Zac Taylor. The Bengals owned one of the league’s best offenses in 2021 and ’22 with quarterback Joe Burrow leading the way. The offense took a step back in 2023 with Burrow missing seven games due to injury, but still finished in the top half of the NFL in points per game (21.5). Callahan is officially the longest-tenured offensive coordinator in the league after the New Orleans Saints fired Pete Carmichael following 15 seasons with the team.

“I’ve learned a lot in the role,” Callahan said last year of being an offensive coordinator. “You do oversee the offensive staff, the entire offense, the players. You interact with all of the different players. Having to build relationships with the receivers, tight ends, the linemen. Then the administrative part of being a coordinator, how you manage the roster spots, the draft process, there’s a management part of being in the coordinator role that you don’t get that experience as a position coach.”

Brian Callahan among many OCs to receive head coaching interviews

Callahan is one of many up-and-coming offensive coordinators around the league earning head coaching interviews. Others include Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions, Bobby Slowik of the Houston Texans, Frank Smith of the Miami Dolphins, Joe Brady of the Buffalo Bills, Brian Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles and Dave Canales of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers among others.

Not to be outdone, several big names remain head coaching candidates during this cycle. Those include former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel and former Stanford head coach David Shaw.