Dan Pitcher Visits Bucs for Second OC Interview

Dan Pitcher, the Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterbacks coach, visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday to discuss the team’s open offensive coordinator position. It was Pitcher’s second interview for the job but his first time in the AdventHealth Training Center.

The Buccaneers first spoke to Pitcher on Friday, January 27 but had to conduct the interview virtually because the Bengals were preparing to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. With the Chiefs winning that contest and denying Cincinnati a second straight trip to the Super Bowl, Pitcher was able to travel to Florida an interview in person.

The Buccaneers have spoken with seven candidates for their OC job as they seek to replace Byron Leftwich, with whom the parted ways – along with a number of other assistant coaches – on January 19. Pitcher is the first of those seven to get a second interview. The other candidates identified so far are Denver Broncos Passing Game Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach Klint Kubiak, Minnesota Vikings Wide Receivers Coach Keenan McCardell, Jacksonville Jaguars Quarterbacks Coach Jim Bob Cooter, University of Georgia Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Todd Monken, New York Giants Quarterbacks Coach Shea Tierney and New Orleans Saints Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach.

Pitcher just completed his third season as the Bengals’ quarterback coach, where he has helped develop Joe Burrow into an MVP candidate. Burrow received his first Pro Bowl invitation at the end of the 2022 season after completing 68.3% of his passes, throwing for 279.3 yards per game, tossing 35 touchdown passes against 12 interceptions and compiling a passer rating of 100.8. Burrow, the first-overall pick in the 2020 draft, had equally strong numbers in 2021 despite having to recover from a season-ending knee injury suffered in his rookie campaign.

Pitcher started his NFL career in 2013 as part of the Indianapolis Colts’ scouting department before shifting to coaching and joining the Bengals as an offensive assistant in 2016. He spent three seasons on that role before becoming the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019 and then moving into his current post in 2020, coinciding with Burrow’s arrival.

Pitcher played quarterback at Colgate University and SUNY Cortland before beginning his coaching career at SUNY Cortland, tutoring the wide receivers. In his senior season, he was a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, the Division III version of the Heisman Trophy.