Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals Face CRUCIAL matchup vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Episode Date: October 14, 2025The Bengals have to beat the Steelers on Thursday night to realistically keep their season alive. Joe Flacco and the Bengals need to snap their losing streak, beat Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers and g...et back in the AFC North race. Jake Liscow and James Rapien discuss the significance of the matchup, what a win would mean versus a loss, plus thoughts on the possibility of Brian Callahan and Bill Callahan potentially joining Zac Taylor's coaching staff.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Mint MobileReady to say yes to saying no?Make the switch at https://MintMobile.com/LOCKEDONNFLUpfront payment of $45 required (equivalent to $15/mo). Limited-time new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35GB on Unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/lockedon.BILTTurn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to https://joinbilt.com/lockedonnfl.Supply HouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.RugietReady to level up your confidence in the bedroom? Head to https://www.rugiet.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNFL for 15% off your first order.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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If you're interested in hope for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2025, that Thursday night football game in a couple of days sure is important.
You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast.
Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.
What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.
I'm Jake Lisco.
He's James Rupin and we are your host of the last of the Lockdowneufels podcast.
the Lockdown Bengals podcast, bringing you one stop shopping for all your Bengals news and analysis
on the internet since 2016 here on Lockdown Bengals.
Welcome back to the everydayers.
Welcome back to those of you who make us your first listen.
We appreciate all of you with great listening habits, even though the Bengals are enduring
a rough season, to put it lightly, so far.
But there are some of you out there that would like to be hopeful.
there's some optimists listening to this show James Rupin,
and we're going to talk about a little bit of hope today.
We're going to recognize, I think, the pessimists as well out there
in that camp, because there's a whole lot of Bengals fans, James,
that are just done that are sick of hearing about the team's aspirations for this year
and how they're trying to keep it afloat.
And I think that in an episode like this one,
when we're going to talk about the importance of the Thursday night football game,
as it pertains to the Bengals' hopes for 2025.
I think that both perspectives will probably come up a little bit.
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And James, the Bengals are 2 and 4.
There are few games back in the AFC North,
the Steelers 4 and 1 having had thereby,
but they're 1 in the division.
They're 2 in the AFC.
they're losing a lot of games against NFC opponents, which obviously isn't good.
They've lost four straight.
Obviously isn't good.
But if they're interested in getting back into the race when the Browns are one in five and the Ravens are one in five,
and the Steelers are the primary competition in the AFC North right now, taking a game off the Steelers would go a long way.
It's a game of the year.
It's the game of the year.
I would trade a loss at Lambo 10 times out of 10 for a win on Thursday night.
And so for them to play better on offense in the second half, obviously the defense needs to be better.
But if that offense comes out and starts where they left off in Lambo, well, then they have a shot to beat the Steelers.
And they need to beat the Steelers.
If they beat the Steelers, then they're right back in it.
They really are.
And if they lose, then I'm going to agree with everybody that says, all right, well, that's it.
it because even if you win the next two weeks after that going into the buy, you're four and five,
and you beat a bad Jets team that doesn't have a win as of now, and a Bears team that, yeah,
they had a nice Monday night win, but overall, I don't think anyone's buying Super Bowl tickets in Chicago.
So this is such a huge swing game for this franchise, and this is why you go get Joe Flacco.
He's 11 and 11 in the regular season as a starter against the Steelers.
Jake Browning has gotten his butt-whooped by the Steelers.
in two games.
And so you get Joe Flacco so you can keep your season alive by winning on Thursday night
on a short week when he's been in town for nine days.
Like that's really the reality.
I mean, he's going to play two games at nine days since being traded.
And you needed to get that Pittsburgh game.
You had the tune up, so to speak, on the road against Green Bay.
And there's going to be plenty of Steelers fans in the crowd on Thursday night.
So it's not like it's going to be quiet.
They need to win this game.
This is a kitchen sink game.
if I'm Zach Taylor, Dan Pitcher, Al Golden,
leave no stone unturned,
because you have to find a way Darren Simmons.
So I don't care if it's fakes.
I don't care if it's a flea flicker
where you're actually blocking correctly.
I don't care what it is.
You need to pull out every single stop,
every single thing,
every single rabbit out of a hat,
Ryan Finley scramble,
Ryan Finley Keeper on the RPO to beat the Steelers.
Because if you do,
well, that post game show is going to feel
a lot different than if they fall to two and five
and the Steelers gain another game on them
and this team loses their fifth straight game
without Joe Burrow.
You're saying run pass option
or sorry, read option Joe Flacco.
Joe Flacco keeper.
If that's what's going to work,
you know, you might need to get him one of those airport
walkways and put that on the field and then
maybe he gets there.
but it really this is for all the dialogue,
all the discussion,
all of the negativity and a lot of it rightfully deserved
in criticism,
rightfully deserved.
You can get right back in it.
If you win on Thursday night.
If you don't,
then I think the conversation in the dialogue
and the discourse on this podcast
and really throughout Bengeldom
is going to change very much.
So much hinges on when Joe Burroughs
going to get back. We'll just have no idea, right? And so without that knowledge, if you're the
Bengals, you have to approach it like he's going to get back as soon as possible. And if he's going
to get back as soon as possible, then that's why you trade for Joe Flacco and try to win games.
I think that that has to be their approach. I don't see that they have a choice. But when you point out
the way Jake Browning played against the Steelers the last time he had an opportunity to start
for this team, in Joe Flacco's career playing against the Steelers and the chasm, the chasm
separating the success rate of those guys
kind of puts into perspective
Mike Tomlin's comments from Monday.
Mike Tomlin's like
Dickin it, Andrew Barry,
and saying, I don't understand what
Cleveland's doing, trading a quarterback to a division
rival that's struggling a quarterback.
And then you think about
how he must have been
so looking forward to a couple
weeks ago. Another shot at Jake Browning
after the way Browning played
against them in 2023.
And then the comparison of, oh yeah,
Flacco was figuring some things out over the course of that game.
Looks like he can read a defense.
Look like he can throw with anticipation.
Looks like he can be a guy that's not going to melt down when things get a little bit muddy around him.
How different that must be for the Steelers and preparing?
And look, I don't expect Joe Flacko to go out there and be amazing.
We might have seen his best game as a Bengal in the second half against the Green Bay Packers.
That is possible.
Could he go out and play better than that?
Also possible.
I'm just trying to kind of talk about where expectations should be for Flacco.
He hadn't played well before he got to Cincinnati.
He played great in the second half.
But he gives you a shot that Jake Browning didn't give you.
So that remains true.
And I just thought it was interesting when you pointed out how Browning played against the Steelers
versus how Flackos played against the Steelers for his entire career
and put that into context with Mike Tomlin's comments.
Well, when you hear Mike Tomlin's comments,
those that doubted the Joe Flacco move or poo-pooed it,
it shows that the Bengals got it right.
Because Mike Tomlin's like,
what the hell are you doing, giving new life to a division rival
that was dead in the water.
I was having quarterback issues.
The quarterback couldn't move the ball,
couldn't utilize the strength of the team.
And so, yeah, I think,
it's very much a what did you guys do now i'm not saying mike tomlin scared of joe flacco
but it gives the bengals a competent quarterback someone that can get the ball to their weapons and it
makes them far more dangerous than before far more dangerous than they looked in three games with
jake browning starting and and they need that to continue you're right i mean it's not like this is
Joe Burrow. It's not like this is a Pro Bowl quarterback. But when you go from what they got for
three weeks to competent level quarterback play, there's reason to me there's reason to buy in.
If Joe Flacco goes out there plays well and they find a way to get a win, then it's like,
all right, well, they just beat a good team. The Steelers are a good team. Now, the NFL is weird,
but you're going to look up and the Steelers are probably going to have nine wins again.
They're four in one. They win ugly. I'm not saying they're perfect. I'm not saying that
Aaron Rogers is great or that this team is a Super Bowl contender. That's not what I'm saying.
But if you're going to dig yourself out of a two and four hole, it probably starts with beating the team that leads the division by multiple games.
And the entire AFC North Jake is going to be rooting for the Bengals on Thursday night because if you're Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, you probably, Lamar probably thinks he's going to rally that team.
But it's going to be really hard to rally if the Steelers improve to five and one.
and move to four games ahead of the Ravens.
If the Bengals can pull the Steelers back to the pack a little bit,
it gives really the entire AFC North outside of Cleveland
because there's really no hope for them to win the division.
But for the Ravens and the Bengals,
it would give them some renewed life.
The Ravens are really getting a taste of what the Bengals went through in 2024,
the way that defense is playing.
Like even if Lamar gets back,
that defense for the Ravens has been such a problem
and has so many injuries right now to boot.
They're kind of experience.
saying a little bit of what the Bengals went through last year.
Let's continue this conversation, James, about the ideas of hope and what the Bengals can
realistically be hoping for, how important this game is Thursday night football, a chance
to try to get back on the rails a little bit for a season that's really off the rails right
now for the Bengals coming up next.
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Jake, this has a chance to be season saving, honestly. I mean, that's,
That's where it's at.
And that's how I view it.
Like if you get a way to win with the upcoming schedule,
there's renewed hope and a realistic chance that you could go into the buy with a winning record.
And that would be something.
Not everything.
And I'm not saying that would still happen.
But this is the toughest game, I think, of the three that they have between now and the
buy.
It's the Steelers on a short week.
Then you have the Jets and then the Bears before the buy week.
The NFL this year isn't good.
You talk about this idea, the Steelers are a good team,
and I think people that have been listening for a long time know that my standard for a good team is a little bit different from your standard for a good team.
For me, you're either good or you're bad, and if you're good, that means you're a Super Bowl contender.
If you're bad, it means you're not.
Then there's a horrible team that just are hapless on any given Sunday.
And this year doesn't really seem like that.
there's a runaway good team in the first third or so of the season that we're through,
six games through the season.
The Colts are five and one.
The Buccaneers are five and one.
I'm not buying either of those teams as strong Super Bowl contenders,
at least not yet.
Maybe they convince me later.
The Steelers are four and whatnot.
Not buying them as a strong Super Bowl contender.
Those are the three teams in football with the best winning percentage this year.
You get to the back of the NFL, and there are some really, really bad teams.
in the NFL right now.
And right now, I would say the Bengals are among them.
And that includes the Titans and the Browns and the Saints and the Jets and the Dolphins.
And right now the Ravens, although when Lamar Jackson gets back,
maybe that changes for the Ravens and they work their way back to the middle of the pack.
But right now, until the Bengals prove otherwise,
they're one of those really, really bad teams in the NFL.
You want to start proving otherwise.
You go beat one of those middle of the pack teams.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, four and one.
And who are the Pittsburgh Steelers beaten?
The Jets, the Browns, two of their wins, two terrible teams, unambiguously terrible teams this year so far.
They also beat the Vikings, and they beat the Patriots.
The Patriots turning out to be one of those middle-of-the-packed teams.
Lost to the Seahawks pretty badly.
Seahawks might be a decent team.
So it's not like the Steelers are out there beating anyone that's particularly good.
And you look around the league, you look Monday night,
It's kind of an extreme example this year of parity and any given Sunday mentality.
That's where I'm going with this.
To me, there's no great separator in the NFL this year.
There are some teams that look hapless, like I said,
and the Bengals need to show us that they're not going to be one of those teams all season long.
And getting a win this week starts that.
But if they do get the win this week, and then they play one of those hapless teams in the Jets,
you can build a little bit of momentum going into that barrier.
game, the third game of a three game homestand going into the buy.
And if you can build a little bit of momentum, show that you're, in fact, one of the any given
Sunday teams and not one of the get right teams, which is what they have been too much in
the early part of this season, then you can start to buy in.
Even if you're one of those that's totally dismissed hope, if you win those three,
has to start this week, not trying to get too far ahead.
and show that you can be in any given Sunday team,
well then at least people are interested in the games on Sunday.
At least you're thinking,
realistically, they have a chance to win every time they take the field.
And that's what we're going to learn Thursday.
Because if they are one of those teams, you're right.
The Steelers have talent,
but they're not this unbeatable juggernaut.
Our version of good is different.
There's plenty of good teams that aren't Super Bowl contenders,
but you feel differently.
that's fine. But the bottom line is, it's just a definitional difference. I understand where you're coming from, too. It's just a funny thing that I pointed out.
Yeah, no, I know. But if the Steelers get to five and one, they're going to win the division. They're going to win the division unless something catastrophic happens because they're going to just have such a big lead that it's not going to matter how good they are because they're going to walk into a few more wins and then they'll look up and they'll be good enough. That's probably what's going to happen. Maybe not. Maybe the Ravens hit.
this turbo jet button in the Steelers stubbed their tow a bunch after this week.
But that's probably not going to be the case.
And if you get off to too much of a head start, no one's going to catch you.
And so it's a big game for the Steelers from that perspective,
because I think it could be a potential knockout blow in the division,
just because of where everybody else is.
But for the Bengals, it would give them life and it would give them a chance to kind
of lick their wounds on the mini by, catch their breath,
and try to make a push here.
before the buy. And then if you do that, guess who you have coming out of the buy? You get the
Steelers again. You get a chance to make up that ground. It's not like three and four versus four
and two feels like you're all that close, but you get the Steelers twice at a month. And you'll be
well rested. And it'll be your first road game since Green Bay. And that's it. That's the that's the path here.
That's the place they put themselves in position. And I guarantee you internally, that's what the Bengals
are thinking, but it has to start now.
And that's where the pressure comes from,
because if it doesn't start Thursday night,
you're giving,
it's too big of a canyon between you and the Steelers.
And that really is the path.
As bad as the AFC is,
and I,
you're right.
There certainly aren't many great teams.
I don't know if there are any great teams right now.
You have to feel like if you get a win and you get to three and four
and you're one-on-one with Joe Flacco and you're competitive against Green Bay,
and you have this big division win against the number one team in your division.
It's like, all right, well, we hit the reset button, we've rebounded here, and we have a shot.
And I do think the Bengals felt that way last week in the locker room.
I think the players and coaches felt that way.
Nothing that happened in Green Bay knocked their confidence or change that confidence.
So now it's time to prove it.
They got to go out there and prove it.
This is the time.
They can't wait any longer.
It can't be all well.
The offense was solid and the defense was solid, but we came up short.
You can't come up short.
And so we'll see if, and I know they know that, but they're going to have to go out there and show it.
That's what I think a lot of people have been looking for.
And that's where like those people out there, and I know you're out there that are in the comments like, why are you guys pedaling hope?
Why are you guys talking about this team like they're not going to be competing for one of the top picks in the draft?
instead of competing in NFL games because that's not any NFL teams approach, obviously.
And maybe they go out and get their teeth kicked in.
Maybe they can't hang with the Steelers and the pass rush that the Steelers present.
And Joe Flacco just can't deal with the pressure after the Bengals dealt with Green Bay
and Micah Parsons pretty well last week, found ways to get to the quick game effectively.
Maybe that's the case.
Maybe the Bengals just don't generate any pass rush of their own for old man Aaron Rogers.
on the other side. And maybe
Trey Hendrickson doesn't get back this week
because it's now a hip injury on the official injury
report apparently instead of a back injury
and they just don't have enough guns
on defense to deal with whatever
the Steelers store with them, D.K. Metcalf
Aaron Rogers, tight ends.
And we'll get to all
those topics in the crossover tomorrow
as that'll serve as your game preview this
week on the short week.
But they still
have a lot of season left
and this is a team that we've seen time and time again get themselves into early holes before they figure it out.
There's no Joe Burrow to save them right now, but it says a team that's been able to figure things out over the years.
And maybe they don't this year, but there's still a chance that they do.
And to James's point, if it's going to matter, needs to start this week.
Maybe they'll go get some help too on the coaching staff, some consulting help.
Let's get to some Callahan ideas to finish the show.
Coming up next.
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James, the Tennessee Titans made a move at head coach dismissing Brian Callahan from his head coaching duties.
His father, Bill Callahan, deciding that he will depart the team with Brian.
And a tough situation for Brian Callahan with the Titans.
They fire the GM.
They keep him around.
They go get a quarterback.
And the team just isn't very good.
nothing really worked out for Cali in Tennessee and, you know, feel for losing that opportunity.
But from a Bengals perspective, which Callahan do you call first if you're Zach Taylor,
if you're Duke Tobin, if you're Mike Frow, if you're Scott Peters, which Callahan are you interested
in or is it just both that you're interested in bringing along to get some consulting help in some
capacity with the Bengals for the rest of the year.
I mean, if you're Scott Peters, as much as I don't know if Scott Peters won't spell
Calhanna anywhere near Paycor, even though they're familiar with each other and work together
in Cleveland, I don't, it's potentially a replacement, right?
But I get your point.
And we could go down the list there.
I'm being nitpicky.
The Bengals should be interested in both of them.
This is a team that hasn't scored a touchdown in the first half in four straight weeks.
I hear a lot of people trying to tarnish what Brian Callahan did.
here and pretend that his head coaching and what he's done as a head coach has anything to do with
what he did as an offensive coordinator with the Bengals. The Bengals' best seasons of the Joe Burrow
era were with Brian Callahan. And that to me, acting like he couldn't help in some way
is ridiculous. Now, you're right. He's not going to come in and just suddenly be the
offensive coordinator. That's Dan Pitcher's job. He's not going to come in and be the
quarterback's coach. That's Brad Crackthor's job.
of those guys, by the way, were on the staffs that went to the Super Bowl and the
FC championship game.
So is it a consulting role?
Probably.
But am I totally open to Brian Callahan coming back to Cincinnati?
I am.
The Bengals should be.
I think he should be.
I think it makes a ton of sense.
Now, the reason I started with him is because I know that there's pushback on social media and
people are trying to rewrite history because he didn't work out in Tennessee.
Tough situation.
Not sure if they've ever gotten, if they've gotten the right quarterback anyway.
and Zach Taylor was in a similar situation here.
The difference is he had Joe Burrell and everyone knew that he was really good
and Joe Burrow believed in Zach.
It's a big difference between the two situations and the GM and all those things.
It doesn't matter.
It's irrelevant to what he could potentially bring to this offense.
But Bill Callahan has to be the priority here.
And maybe that's a package deal.
If it is, the Bengals shouldn't flinch at it.
They shouldn't care.
They should be all in on it.
Because Bill Callahan is arguably the best offensive line coach in the NFL.
We've talked about the offensive line being a problem.
You say it on every show now.
We've been around since 2016.
The Bengals offensive line has been an issue since 2016.
It's been literally during that season when locked on Bengals debuted,
the offensive line was in shuffle mode and has been problematic at some point or another
throughout the nine plus years that we've been here.
That's why you go get Bill Callahan.
And there's ties to the Bengals through Zach Taylor.
He coached Zach Taylor at Nebraska.
This is something that the Bengals kicked the tires on in 2020.
Zach Taylor's a bit too loyal to Jim Turner.
They should have just hired Bill then.
He goes to a division rival.
We've seen what the Browns have done in the trenches over the past five years.
It worked.
And I would do anything to get Bill Callahan within reason.
And that includes move on from Scott Peters.
I don't think you'll have to do that.
I think that's not something that you would need to do because of the history, Scott Peters coach with Callahan in Cleveland.
You could work that out.
But however you need to get Bill Callahan in the building, get him in the building,
because he's going to help you in a key area that you need to develop some of these young guys.
You would hope he would hope.
I mean, maybe not.
You never know if a coaching hire is actually going to make a difference.
Obviously, that's the caveat that you always throw out there.
But on paper, it makes a whole lot of sense to reunite Scott Peters with Bill Callahan.
which were the best years for that Cleveland offensive line in recent history.
When those guys were developing players together and Bill was doing his thing with the scheme
and the run game in particular, as if the Bengals run game couldn't use a little shot in the arm.
And Bill Callahan couldn't help you with that.
And it didn't go great for Bill Callahan in Tennessee.
J.C. Latham didn't develop the way you wanted to see him develop.
But, I mean, even in their most recent game, they had issues with free runners and getting protections set, right?
and how much of that is Bill Callahan versus the rest of what was going on with that team.
I don't know.
I don't know what you would be asking, you know,
Brian to do if you were to bring him back in a consulting capacity.
But I think it would be pretty clear what Bill's role would be.
You know, maybe Brian Callahan's there to help around the edges,
help you find little marginal improvements where his expertise can come in handy.
He obviously has a great collaborative relationship in terms of the history.
of working with Dan pitcher and Zach Taylor
and this Bengals offense during his time in Cincinnati.
But from a Bill Callahan perspective,
I mean, the results when he was with Scott Peters in Cleveland
were really, really good.
And I'm not saying you can reproduce that.
The players are different.
The structure around the Bengals now versus the structure around those guys
when they were in Cleveland is different.
The scouting staff is different, all these things.
But all it cost you is a little.
bit of money and it's not my money so i guess that's easy to say but if you're the bengals and you're
trying to do everything you can to win that shouldn't really be an issue for you either to try to get
one of these guys or both of these guys in a consulting capacity yeah it money better not be an issue
like like if we find out like if there's a report that like because there's going to be a bunch
of teams interested right that oh well bill callahan had options and was really interested in
reuniting with zach taylor but what you call it team x offered mold
Well, I will crush the Beng.
I will because this isn't just a move for this year, just to be clear.
Like you bring Bill in like, even if it is only for the rest of the season, to try to keep him around long term.
And maybe it's a see how it goes and then you go from there, whatever.
But get him in the building.
Now, maybe he just wants to kick it on the beach and breathe and be a grandpa.
and Brian just wants to catch his breath and not jump back into coaching.
And they very well could feel that way.
And that's fine.
But if they coach again this year, the Bengals should be knock and knock and knock and knock and
knocking and doing everything they can to get him in stripes, get them in stripes.
Because I do think if you call Bill, it would naturally involve Brian.
And I'm totally fine with that.
And like I said, I think it's kind of ridiculous how people have.
on social media. And it's probably a minority, but I just don't want to make it clear.
Brian was a really good head coach here, or a really good coach here.
And just because he didn't have success as a head coach. Who cares? No one saying bring him in to be
Zach's successor, saying bring him in to help the offense.
It's, yeah, he didn't have a great time in Tennessee. You can't rewrite that history either.
And sometimes that can derail things for guys. But my impression of Brian Callahan has always been
that he has a great head on his shoulders,
really understands what he's talking about
when it comes to offensive football.
We've always found him to be an insightful coach to talk to as well.
Obviously, we had him as a guest several times
when he was the offensive coordinator for the Bengals.
So we'll see what shakes out there.
Maybe he just doesn't want to be around football for a little bit.
That sometimes happens when guys lose head coaching jobs.
They take a little bit of break and then emerge a year later.
We'll see if that's the case.
maybe that's what Brian wants to do.
But I don't see how it hurts, right?
That's kind of the perspective from my end.
It's not very often you get an opportunity to reconnect with coaches
that you have a relationship with that exists,
that one of them in particular knows your process is extremely well in Brian Callahan.
The other one, many connections between Bill and Zach and this coaching staff,
Scott Peters.
So those guys having worked together before,
it's a rare opportunity in season to potentially add some brain power to your coaching staff.
If Bill was available in January when Frank Pollack got fired,
that would have been the only name we mentioned.
We would have mentioned one name.
We would have said, go get him.
And that's it.
For me, I mean, it would have been open shut, get it done.
You played for him at Nebraska, Zach.
You have the relationship.
You wanted to hire him in the past deep down.
It didn't work out.
Fine.
Let's write this wrong.
And maybe it's a little clunkier now because it's October.
But it's still the right decision.
And so however you got to get there, get there.
Will it happen?
Like you said, they may want to be on a beach somewhere.
If so, Brian, call me because I would love to go to the beach and we can have a few
cocktails.
If not, then get your butt back in Cincinnati.
And let's see if you all can help this all sense.
Is the beach water park still a thing in Cincinnati?
No, it's close.
Oh, I was going to make a beach in Cincinnati, Joe.
Can't do it.
RIP, the beach.
It's because you're from Canada.
I'm just kidding.
You're going to confuse all the people again.
I know.
They're going to be like,
oh, that Canadian, Jake.
That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
A crossover serves as your game preview this week with Thursday Night Football.
That will be next with Christopher Carter from the Lockdown Steelers podcast.
Until then, thanks for listening to this episode.
of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
Ho day.
And have a good.
