Who is Dan Pitcher? Cincinnati Bengals promote QBs coach to offensive coordinator

Dan Pitcher has been the Cincinnati Bengals' quarterbacks coach since January 2020, several weeks before before the team selected Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft.

Pitcher has been an offensive assistant for Cincinnati since 2016. He was assistant QBs coach when he replaced Alex Van Pelt as QBs coach in 2020.

Pitcher is the Bengals' choice to replace Brian Callahan as Cincinnati's OC. Callahan, the Tennessee Titans' new head coach, was introduced at a Thursday press conference.

Multiple teams pursued Pitcher, whose likely replacement will be assistant QBs coach Brad Kragthorpe. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday that the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints were scheduled to interview Pitcher this week.

What to know about the 37-year-old Pitcher:

Joe Burrow and Zac Taylor recently shared praise of Pitcher.

"We mesh so well in the meeting room and on the sideline," Burrow said of Pitcher, per The Enquirer's Charlie Goldsmith. "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."

"He's such a critical part of third downs," Taylor said of Pitcher, per Goldsmith. "He plays an integral part in that, and he has gotten two quarterbacks ready to win games for us."

Multiple NFL teams expressed interest in Pitcher for offensive coordinator openings last year.

When teams approached Pitcher, the Bengals gave him what NFL Network's Ian Rapoport described as a "lucrative contract extension" last January.

Before the extension, Pitcher received inquiries from the Baltimore Ravens, according to Rapoport. Pitcher confirmed that he interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Before joining Cincinnati, Pitcher spent four seasons in player personnel with the Indianapolis Colts.

Pitcher was a scouting assistant for the Colts from 2012 to 2013, and a pro scout from 2014 to 2015.

"The four years I spent there, I always tell people, I kind of took the scenic route to get to where I ultimately wanted to go," Pitcher told Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson in December. "But if I could go back in time, I wouldn't change anything because I think what I learned in that time, how to see the game differently. I'd always seen football through one perspective and that was playing the quarterback position."

Pitcher played quarterback at SUNY Courtland from 2009 to 2011.

Pitcher began his college career at Colgate University, but didn't see game action for the Raiders as a freshman or sophomore after suffering a hamstring injury during his first preseason camp.

He transferred to SUNY, in his hometown of Cortland. He starred there, and was a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy.

Pitcher has experience coaching wide receivers, in addition to QBs.

After his playing career, Pitcher's first coaching position was working with SUNY Cortland's WRs in 2012, before he got his first job with the Colts.

Pitcher's first position as a Bengals' assistant also was coaching WRs, in 2016 and 2017.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: QBs coach Dan Pitcher replaces Brian Callahan as Cincinnati Bengals OC