On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers conducted a virtual interview with Dan Pitcher, the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator, for the same position on Todd Bowles' staff. Pitcher is the eighth candidate the Buccaneers have interviewed for their OC job since the team parted ways with Josh Grizzard on January 8. Pitcher also interviewed with the Buccaneers in 2023 before the team hired Dave Canales as its offensive coordinator.
Pitcher has spent the past 10 seasons on the Bengals' staff, beginning as an offensive assistant under Head Coach Marvin Lewis in 2016. After three seasons in that role, he was retained by new Head Coach Zac Taylor in 2019 as an assistant quarterbacks coach, then promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2020. After four seasons with that job, Pitcher was promoted again to offensive coordinator when Brian Callahan left Cincinnati to become the Tennessee Titans' head coach in 2024.
In Pitcher's two seasons as Cincinnati's offensive coordinator, the team ranked fourth in the NFL in points per game (26.1), 10th in net yards per game (347.4), second in net passing yards per game (254.3), third in third-down conversion rate (45.1%) and fifth in total first downs (728). Despite Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow missing nine games last season, the Bengals still ranked 13th in the NFL in points scored. In 2024, Cincinnati had the NFL's most prolific passing attack, averaging 272.9 yards per game, and the team ranked sixth in points per game (27.8).
Pitcher's move to quarterbacks coach in 2020 coincided with the arrival of Burrow, the first-overall pick in that year's draft. Burrow missed six games due to injury as a rookie but started 16 contests in 2021 and led the NFL in completion percentage (70.4%) and yards per attempt (8.9) while tossing 34 touchdown passes and earning Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year honors. He threw another five touchdown passes in the postseason as the Bengals advanced to Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams. Burrow threw another 35 touchdown passes in 2022, making his first Pro Bowl and finishing fourth in the NFL MVP balloting as Cincinnati made it back to the AFC Championship Game.
Pitcher was a collegiate quarterback at Colgate University and SUNY Cortland, and he began his coaching career in 2012 tutoring Cortland's wide receivers. He then moved into scouting, joining the Indianapolis Colts as a scouting assistant and later getting a promotion to pro scout.
The seven other OC candidates the Bucs interviewed prior to meeting with Pitcher were former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel, Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, New York Giants Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka, former Tennessee Head Coach Brian Callahan, Detroit Passing Game Coordinator David Shaw, Arizona Quarterbacks Coach Israel Woolfork and Atlanta Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson.
