Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Turn the Page addition as
Speaker 1: the Bengals officially transition from the Andy Dalton era to
Speaker 1: the Joe Burrow era. Coming up, I'll talk to Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham about Andy's legacy in Cincinnati and why the Bengals
Speaker 1: elected to let him go now instead of holding on
Speaker 1: to him as long as possible in hopes of swinging
Speaker 1: a trade. We'll replay a short portion of an interview
Speaker 1: we did with Andy late last season that hits home
Speaker 1: following his release, and I'll talk to the Bengals new
Speaker 1: quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher on Joe Burrow, Andy Dalton and
Speaker 1: how a summer handyman job as a college student helped
Speaker 1: him eventually wind up coaching in the NFL. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan,
Speaker 1: travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can add the latest edition
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered rite to your phone, tablet, or
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since the Andy and AJ Dalton Foundation.
Speaker 1: As college students at TCU, Andy and his wife JJ
Speaker 1: decided they would start a foundation to help seriously ill
Speaker 1: and physically challenge children and their families. Since then, they've
Speaker 1: paid for entertainment hubs for kids in multiple hospitals, hosted
Speaker 1: date nights for parents of seriously ill children where the
Speaker 1: Daltons entertain the kids while their parents are treated to
Speaker 1: an expensive dinner date. They've treated children to Christmas parties
Speaker 1: and trips to King's Island, and they've purchased medical equipment
Speaker 1: and provided financial relief to families that need it most.
Speaker 1: In short, they've been incredibly generous with their time and resources.
Speaker 1: For more information about their foundation or to make a donation,
Speaker 1: just go to Andy Dalton dot org. My first year
Speaker 1: is the Bengals radio play by play announcer was Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton's first year at quarterback, and I remember reading a
Speaker 1: story in Sports Illustrated around the time he was drafted
Speaker 1: where an unnamed NFL coach said the following to Peter King,
Speaker 1: has there ever been a redheaded quarterback in the NFL
Speaker 1: who's done really well? The coach asked, It sounds idiotic,
Speaker 1: but is there any way that could be a factor.
Speaker 1: He's right, it was idiotic, but I remembered that quote
Speaker 1: the first time I met Andy and saw just how
Speaker 1: red his hair is. That's why I decided to have
Speaker 1: some fun with it in his first preseason by calling
Speaker 1: him the Red Rifle. The nickname certainly stuck. Andy's accomplishments
Speaker 1: were nothing short of remarkable, five straight playoff trips, the
Speaker 1: best winning percentage of any Bengals QB with twenty five
Speaker 1: or more starts, and the most completions and touchdown passes
Speaker 1: of any quarterback in franchise history. The only thing he
Speaker 1: didn't do was lead the team to postseason success, and
Speaker 1: I honestly believe that would have happened in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: That year, his passer rating was a franchise record one
Speaker 1: oh six point three and the team was ten and
Speaker 1: two and the number one seed in the AFC playoff
Speaker 1: race when he broke his thumb. Unfortunately, the Bengals have
Speaker 1: not been back to the playoffs since last year. Before
Speaker 1: the season opener in Seattle, I asked the three time
Speaker 1: Pro bowler the following question, what are you proudest of? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think anytime you can stay in one place for
Speaker 1: a long time. I think that's one thing. We've really
Speaker 1: established ourself in Cincinnati from the time we got here,
Speaker 1: and so this is a place that we wanted to be,
Speaker 1: and we wanted to be here for a long time.
Speaker 1: So I think the first and foremost to be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, have success enough to where you know you're
Speaker 1: going to be in the city Cincinnati. I think that's
Speaker 1: that's one thing. There's been a lot of accomplishments that
Speaker 1: have gone on since I've been here, obviously, like you said,
Speaker 1: the three the three Pro Bowls and different things, but
Speaker 1: I want to keep playing for for a while, so, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully we're kind in the middle stages of
Speaker 1: my career. Andy turns thirty three in October and should
Speaker 1: have plenty of good football left. It'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see where he winds up. That's among the things I
Speaker 1: discussed with my broadcast partner, Dave lapham Lap. What is
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton's legacy in Cincinnati. I think he's He's a
Speaker 1: clear cut case of a tale of two careers instead
Speaker 1: of a tale of two cities. I mean his first
Speaker 1: his first fifty seven or seventy six games, fifty twenty
Speaker 1: five and one. Unbelievable. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers the only
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that had more victors in him in that time
Speaker 1: frame his last fifty seven games twenty thirty six and one.
Speaker 1: You know, and there's as we know him, Marry the
Speaker 1: reasons why. I mean, when he started out his career
Speaker 1: with those with those fifty wins and twenty five losses
Speaker 1: in the tie and Andrew Worth a left tackle, he
Speaker 1: at Aja Green, I mean, he had he had solid
Speaker 1: people around him, a solid situation. Jay Gruden was his
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. They kind of grew together, and then at
Speaker 1: the back half of his career there was musical chairs
Speaker 1: at you know, a Merry go round a left tackle,
Speaker 1: same type of scenario at offensive coordinator. I really think
Speaker 1: that he's a clear cut case of when you surround
Speaker 1: him with competent people, he'll give you a damn good
Speaker 1: performance and if you leave him out there in the lurch,
Speaker 1: you know, struggle. And that's the case with most quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a reason for that old saying that
Speaker 1: they get too much blame when things poorly and not
Speaker 1: enough credit when things go well. In a normal year,
Speaker 1: even with his salary, he would have been easy to
Speaker 1: trade for a draft pick. But this is not a
Speaker 1: normal year. Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Jamis Winston,
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota were all available to teams. Nick Foles as well,
Speaker 1: and the Bears pounced down him. It made for a
Speaker 1: difficult market for the Bengals in trying to trade him,
Speaker 1: it did, you know, and uh, there's no doubt in
Speaker 1: the game and musical chairs, there were too many quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and not enough chairs. The music stopped, and it was
Speaker 1: it was a tough dynamic for sure. When whenever when
Speaker 1: all those quarterbacks saturated, they're saturated the market, you know,
Speaker 1: just but at that point in time was boy, you know,
Speaker 1: you know that nobody's going to give up draft capital
Speaker 1: and inherited seventeen point seven million dollar contract. That's that's
Speaker 1: there's no way that's going to happen. And there are
Speaker 1: Bill Bill Belichick's just sitting there. He was just waiting
Speaker 1: in the weeds. I mean, I'd hate to play poker
Speaker 1: with him. He'll wait you out forever and keep a
Speaker 1: poker face the whole time. It will try me. You know,
Speaker 1: the fact that they didn't even draft a quarterback with
Speaker 1: all those picks they had that he felt like he
Speaker 1: was going to get a good shot at Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: when the Bengals terminated him, and down there in Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: you're think Jay Gruden and the Jacksonville Jaguars might be
Speaker 1: thinking the same thing. So if there's a couple of
Speaker 1: couple of teams with a significant interest, you know, I
Speaker 1: think backup salary quarterback salaries are tops in the high
Speaker 1: three million dollar range. He might be able to generate
Speaker 1: a little bit more than that, but there's not a
Speaker 1: whole lot of starting jobs left out there, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: After spending more than one hundred and thirty million unrestricted
Speaker 1: free agents, the Bengals don't have room under the cap
Speaker 1: for a seventeen point seven million dollar backup quarterback, especially
Speaker 1: as they try to extend aj Green and Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: But they could have waited until Week one to see
Speaker 1: if an injury created a need somewhere else. Why didn't
Speaker 1: they because of their respect for Andy, you know, I
Speaker 1: think that once the once the draft took place, and
Speaker 1: there were no no trades, you know, prior to the draft,
Speaker 1: during the draft, and right after the draft, I think
Speaker 1: at that point they realized the market was dry. Everybody
Speaker 1: had made quarterback decisions and nobody was going to do
Speaker 1: anything that was going to be uh, you know, would
Speaker 1: changed the landscape significantly. So at that point in time,
Speaker 1: they wanted to do what's best for Andy Dalton. I'm
Speaker 1: sure Andy Dalton wanted to move on and try to
Speaker 1: find the best opportunity for him to extend his career.
Speaker 1: He still believes the starting NFL quarterback. And you know,
Speaker 1: stranger things have happened. But I mean, if he goes
Speaker 1: out there and it's totally dry and you know, and
Speaker 1: the BEng Wills say, hey, this is what we can
Speaker 1: afford to give you as a backup quarterback for a season,
Speaker 1: would you think about it. I mean, stranger things have happened.
Speaker 1: I think the odds of that are minuscule. But it
Speaker 1: doesn't it doesn't close that door because you know, one
Speaker 1: thing that ain't Andy Dalton has done as he's done
Speaker 1: with everything in his career as a as a football player,
Speaker 1: as a husband, as a dad, as a brother, as
Speaker 1: a son, as a community member. Everything he does he
Speaker 1: does with class. Even he hasn't burned any bridges here. Um,
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, if something doesn't work out,
Speaker 1: New England, Jacksonville, or wherever it may be. You know
Speaker 1: there the door's not slammed, it's not bolted, sud, but
Speaker 1: it would be. It would be a tough a tough
Speaker 1: pilled swallow, I think, a tough dynamic. But I do
Speaker 1: think the timing this is all about trying to do
Speaker 1: what's best for Andy Dalton to extend his career, because
Speaker 1: they feel like they owe that to him. Lap I'm
Speaker 1: sure Joe Burrow could have learned from Andy Dalton as
Speaker 1: a veteran mentor slash sounding board. There are veterans out there,
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco, Mike Glennon, Matt Moore, Blake Bortles, and others.
Speaker 1: Do you see the Bengals possibly reaching out to a
Speaker 1: little older guy like that so that Joe Burrow could
Speaker 1: have somebody like Bruce Gradkowski was for Andy. I think
Speaker 1: with Joe Burrow, you know, Jill Burrows older than a
Speaker 1: lot of quarterbacks in the NFL right now, and Bill
Speaker 1: Burrows had life experiences probably in terms of facing adversity,
Speaker 1: more than a lot of quarterbacks that are stars in
Speaker 1: the National Football League have had the experience. I think
Speaker 1: his chronological age and his life experiences age I think
Speaker 1: make him ready, and plus the fact, when you look
Speaker 1: at it, everybody in the organization is a quarterback, including
Speaker 1: the owner. Mike Brown played at Dartmouth, Duke Telvin played
Speaker 1: at Colorado, you know, Zach Taylor, Coach Callahan, and a
Speaker 1: picture everybody everybody involved with Joe Burrow played the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: So I think they feel they've got enough people to
Speaker 1: give them opinions and tutor them and all those sort
Speaker 1: of things. I mean, it wouldn't be bad to have
Speaker 1: a guy like that in the locker room, but in
Speaker 1: that quarterback meeting room and in the locker room. But
Speaker 1: you know, Tayl bar when I asked him about it
Speaker 1: on the press conference after he was drafted about how
Speaker 1: difficult it may be relationship wise with Andy, difficult or not,
Speaker 1: you know, his answer was just he hit it out
Speaker 1: of the park, like he did all of them. So
Speaker 1: he'll deal with deal with it if if Andy's part
Speaker 1: of the picture, and he'll deal with it if it's
Speaker 1: just young quarterbacks in him. I mean, I think he's
Speaker 1: capable and ready to adapt and adjust it just about anything.
Speaker 1: I really do. You participated in events for the uh
Speaker 1: Andy and JJ Dalton Foundation. I know how much respect
Speaker 1: you have for him as a person, how big a
Speaker 1: part of his legacy is what he did off the field.
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's huge, you know. And
Speaker 1: I think that when when, um, you know, you talk
Speaker 1: about does did Andy Dalton get his just due? You know,
Speaker 1: on the field as a quarterback with the Cincinnati Bengal
Speaker 1: as well, and from a national perspective of really, nobody
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati is gonna they're just due, But even on
Speaker 1: a local basis, I'm not sure that necessarily he got
Speaker 1: his just due from what he did, you know, as
Speaker 1: a quarterback on the field, and maybe even you know
Speaker 1: what he's done off the football field, because it is
Speaker 1: it is remarkable. It is amazing to watch him interact
Speaker 1: with with the people and how they look at him
Speaker 1: because of the way he's affected their lives in such
Speaker 1: a positive way. I mean, giving them a beacon of hope,
Speaker 1: you know, a beacon of light. It's it's just, it's
Speaker 1: it's man, it's it's humanity at its highest level. There's
Speaker 1: no question about it. And he should be extremely proud
Speaker 1: of that. I know he is. I know his wife
Speaker 1: JJ is and and I know that he was very,
Speaker 1: very appreciative of all the people in Cincinnati that rallied
Speaker 1: around is his efforts with respects to the foundation, and
Speaker 1: not only here in Cincinnati, but down in Dallas Fort
Speaker 1: Worth as well. So I'm sure he'll he'll probably continue
Speaker 1: with things that he's done here in Cincinnati, but if
Speaker 1: he ends up in another location, I'm sure I'll have
Speaker 1: to split the pot. Count sure it will do something
Speaker 1: wherever he ends up and continue in his hometown area
Speaker 1: Dallas Fort Worth as well. Lap and I did a
Speaker 1: lengthy interview with Andy for one of our radio shows
Speaker 1: in late November, right after he got his starting job
Speaker 1: back after a three game benching behind rookie Ryan Finley.
Speaker 1: He promptly led the team to a win over the Jets,
Speaker 1: ending their eleven game losing streak to begin the season.
Speaker 1: I've edited that interview down to about five minutes that
Speaker 1: seem appropriate following his release. You're a man of faith
Speaker 1: and a family man. How important of those two components
Speaker 1: for your life been in dealing with what you've been
Speaker 1: dealing with here? Yeah, it's been the biggest thing for me.
Speaker 1: You know, I think I was saying earlier when it
Speaker 1: first happened, I was just bitter, didn't like I wanted
Speaker 1: to not be the same person that I've been wanting
Speaker 1: to choose to, you know, not help out, just sit
Speaker 1: in the meeting and get through the rest of the
Speaker 1: season and then let it go on on. But it's like,
Speaker 1: that's not who I am, that's not who I'm called
Speaker 1: to be. It's um now, I'd be choosing to be
Speaker 1: somebody that I'm not. And so you know that weighed
Speaker 1: on me heavy and um and and for then I
Speaker 1: was just like, just be yourself. You know, God's gonna
Speaker 1: honor whatever. If you handle this the right way, God's
Speaker 1: gonna honor you. And um, you know, I felt like
Speaker 1: that's how I had to I had to be. I know,
Speaker 1: I told everybody well right when it first happened in
Speaker 1: the team meeting, like I'm gonna be the same guy
Speaker 1: I'm you know, don't don't feel awkward around me. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be It's gonna be okay. You know, I'll get
Speaker 1: through it. Um. But uh, you know, and I felt
Speaker 1: like I was that way even on game day. I
Speaker 1: felt like I was giving suggestions, trying to help right
Speaker 1: out as much as I could, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to help this team win. Yep, we're visiting with
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton. There's an old saying you don't appreciate someone
Speaker 1: or you don't appreciate something until it's gone, and you
Speaker 1: haven't been gone. But after you were taken out of
Speaker 1: the starting lineup, it seems to me there was an
Speaker 1: outpouring of appreciation and respect that I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: you got when you were leading the team to the
Speaker 1: playoffs five years on a road Did you feel that
Speaker 1: long overdue? Yeah, you know, I have received a lot
Speaker 1: of support and so, um, you know, it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of a weird spot to be in, you know, when
Speaker 1: you're uh, you know, felt like, you know, I didn't
Speaker 1: deserve to to not be playing, but you know, I
Speaker 1: guess I understood a little bit what Zach was trying
Speaker 1: to do, but I mean I didn't agree with it
Speaker 1: and all that kind of stuff. And then, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: a lot of people have supported me through it, and um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's it's it's been cool to see, you know,
Speaker 1: there's people that gave to our foundation and in different
Speaker 1: things like that, and um, I mean we'll always take
Speaker 1: that and we'll be able to help so many kids
Speaker 1: and families with with that kind of stuff. But it's
Speaker 1: always nice when you have the support of the city
Speaker 1: around you. I know, Um, your your situation, that the
Speaker 1: conversation you have with Zach so and I know you
Speaker 1: know you weren't real happy. There was even talk about
Speaker 1: just go ahead and trade me. In your mind right now,
Speaker 1: you're not just playing for the Cincinnati Bengals evaluation, you're
Speaker 1: playing for thirty one of the teams. To take a
Speaker 1: look at what Andy Dalton's all about. After having been
Speaker 1: sat down, come back? What's you got? I mean, what
Speaker 1: kind of what kind of a intestinal ford? What's this
Speaker 1: guy all about? All the way around? Is that pretty accurate? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I understand the situation that we're in and
Speaker 1: and everything, and so you know, I'm I'm trying to
Speaker 1: put the best stuff out there that I can. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, if if that's for here, then grade if
Speaker 1: that's for somewhere else, I mean, that's it's all to
Speaker 1: be determined to going forward. But you know, my whole
Speaker 1: goal is to win and win right now and win
Speaker 1: some of these last games, and um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think that's the most important thing right now. How frustrating
Speaker 1: was it because players were coming up to me and
Speaker 1: stay lap four teams and we win these last two games.
Speaker 1: How frustrating was it to you to be on the
Speaker 1: sideline thinking if I was in the football game, man,
Speaker 1: I mean, can you let that kind of enter your
Speaker 1: thoughts or do you have to kind of keep them out? Now?
Speaker 1: I think for any competitor, you want to you feel
Speaker 1: like your skill sets should be able to help the team.
Speaker 1: And um, you know, for me, regardless of the situation,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be confident in myself and know that, Okay,
Speaker 1: there's some little things that I feel like I can
Speaker 1: do that that that can help us win. And you
Speaker 1: only get that through experience. So for Ryan, Ryan was
Speaker 1: getting great experience in those those three weeks and this
Speaker 1: stuff that he's gonna take with for the rest of
Speaker 1: his football career. And he's gonna understand like he went
Speaker 1: against some really good defenses. I mean, you go against
Speaker 1: the Ravens, the Steelers and uh you know some of
Speaker 1: the blitz stuff that that that that Polygy can do
Speaker 1: in Oakland. Uh, So I mean he's gonna just the best. Um,
Speaker 1: the best thing for you is experience and playing in
Speaker 1: the game. So you know, when you've played for nine
Speaker 1: years and you understand and you've seen so much. I
Speaker 1: felt like there's little things that that I can do
Speaker 1: to definitely help this team and help this team win.
Speaker 1: We've kept here for one more minute than promise. This
Speaker 1: is my last question. Lap. You're not allowed to have anybody.
Speaker 1: I got one more. I got one more, good one.
Speaker 1: I think you're tied with Kenny Anderson all time touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: I know you don't play for numbers. You're trying to
Speaker 1: win championships, but it felt to me like your Cincinnati
Speaker 1: story couldn't end the way it did, having your starting
Speaker 1: spot taken, being tied in the record book, there's there's
Speaker 1: a chance here for a happy ending. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it's one of those things. It's like, well, am I
Speaker 1: gonna get in that last game? Let's get one more
Speaker 1: touchdown pass just so I have bragging rights over Kenny.
Speaker 1: But you know, who knows what's gonna happen. I think
Speaker 1: that's one thing that through these last several weeks is
Speaker 1: I truly have had to trust in God's plan for
Speaker 1: my life, for my career, my family and all the
Speaker 1: stuff that goes into it, and so you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: we can score a lot of touchdowns and hopefully that
Speaker 1: record gets broken. Dalton broke Ken Anderson's franchise record for
Speaker 1: career touchdown passes with this strike that week, first and
Speaker 1: ten at the seventeen of the Jets, Dalton fakes a
Speaker 1: hand off from the pocket, throws over the medal Oh
Speaker 1: it is caught for a touchdowne by Tyler Boyd. Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton threading the needle between two New York Jets defenders
Speaker 1: and with that touchdown pass, the red rifle stands alone
Speaker 1: career touchdown pass number one ninety eight in his NFL career,
Speaker 1: more than any other quarterback in Bengals history. They both
Speaker 1: wear number fourteen. Kenny Anderson, Andy Dalton, And I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what this throw is unbelievable. I mean, threading the needle.
Speaker 1: You have a defender dropping back underneath coverage in a
Speaker 1: safety over the top, and Andy Dalton said, I trust
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. I'm gonna zip it in there. And literally,
Speaker 1: if he was an inch either way, it would have
Speaker 1: been incomplete. But man, great catch by Tyler Boyd maintained
Speaker 1: possession for that record breaking touchdown pass to be of
Speaker 1: that variety certainly far from mundane. That was one of
Speaker 1: two hundred four touchdown passes in Andy's nine years with
Speaker 1: the Bengals, and that's seven more than anybody else. Before
Speaker 1: we get to the next segment, here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can take your Bengals pride to the next
Speaker 1: level this season with an official Bengals fan package from
Speaker 1: Prime Sport. Now time for my conversation with Dan Pitcher,
Speaker 1: who was promoted to quarterbacks coach in January after Alex
Speaker 1: van Pelt left to become the offensive coordinator in Cleveland. Dan,
Speaker 1: you're from Courtland, New York, about a half hour from Syracuse.
Speaker 1: You played quarterback for your hometown college, Courtland State, and
Speaker 1: your initial connection to the Bengals was another Courtland State alum,
Speaker 1: former offensive line coach Paul Alexander. Explain how that relationship developed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was really fortunate for me. Paul had come back
Speaker 1: to campus and it was during one of their off
Speaker 1: seasons and he had come back to visit. He did
Speaker 1: a little presentation, um, you know, for for some of
Speaker 1: the students, and then he also spent time with the
Speaker 1: football program. I think he may have crossed passed with
Speaker 1: our head coach at the time, Dan McNeill. I can't
Speaker 1: remember for sure if they were teammates or maybe they
Speaker 1: just barely missed each other, but you know, so he
Speaker 1: spent time with coach McNeill and met with the captains
Speaker 1: at the time, which I was one of them. And
Speaker 1: he's got some summer home on Skinny Outlas Lake, which
Speaker 1: is about twenty five minutes from Courtland, and he needed
Speaker 1: some help in the summer doing some work on his property,
Speaker 1: just you know, power washing his deck and cutting down
Speaker 1: trees and throne rocks around and stuff you do when
Speaker 1: you're twenty one in college looking to make a little
Speaker 1: bit of money. So I did that for him for
Speaker 1: a couple of summers with a couple of my teammates
Speaker 1: and was able to kind of strike up a good
Speaker 1: relationship and he helped me get into the business. So,
Speaker 1: in addition to being an excellent Division three quarterback, your
Speaker 1: hand man skills at Paul Alexander's summer home ultimately helped
Speaker 1: you get a job in the NFL. Uh Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess I didn't mess up as Deck's too bad.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. The best
Speaker 1: player in Division three college football gets the Gagliardi Trophy,
Speaker 1: the Division three Heisman. You were among ten finalists your
Speaker 1: final year at Courtland State, So don't be modest. Give
Speaker 1: me a scouting report on former Courtland State Red Dragons
Speaker 1: quarterback Dan Pitcher. Short, slow, but smart, I think would
Speaker 1: probably be the one liner I would say I was
Speaker 1: able to have success, probably because I put a lot
Speaker 1: of work into it, and I studied a lot and
Speaker 1: for the most part made made really good decisions on
Speaker 1: the field. But there was nothing nothing about me athletically
Speaker 1: that scared anyone. I don't think I'm a Syracuse grad.
Speaker 1: I mentioned that Courtland, New York, is close to Syracuse.
Speaker 1: Were you a fan of the Orange and football and
Speaker 1: basketball growing up? Yeah, Yeah, I was. I think for
Speaker 1: a period of time there. My dad had a couple
Speaker 1: of basketball season tickets, and I can remember the mcmab
Speaker 1: days and the don't that place would be rocking with
Speaker 1: my the you would come in there and there were
Speaker 1: some very some crazy games. The coach Pascaloney was the
Speaker 1: head coach, I believe at the time. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: I grew up a big time Syracuse sports fan. We're
Speaker 1: talking to Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher, your first job
Speaker 1: in the NFL was actually as a scout with the
Speaker 1: Indianapolis Colts right out of college. What were some of
Speaker 1: the more valuable things that you learned on the scouting
Speaker 1: side of things. You know, I learned how to study players,
Speaker 1: you know, really and in all different positions. You know,
Speaker 1: my background had been in the quarterback position, so you're
Speaker 1: naturally exposed the offensive skill positions and and kind of
Speaker 1: what makes guys UH successful in those areas. But you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of other positions on the field that
Speaker 1: you know, I've never really known what to look for
Speaker 1: and what made a good defensive tackle, you know, or
Speaker 1: what made a what made a good UH strong safety
Speaker 1: versus a free safety. So you know, there was different
Speaker 1: things positionally that I was able to learn, and then
Speaker 1: I think I also benefited me greatly that I was
Speaker 1: able to kind of learn, um the business of the
Speaker 1: NFL in terms of roster construction, salary cap all the
Speaker 1: all the factors that go into the decisions that get
Speaker 1: made on a daily basis. Bengals coaches are heavily involved
Speaker 1: in scouting in the weeks and months leading up to
Speaker 1: the draft. Did that scouting experience come in handy for
Speaker 1: you as you were evaluating Joe Burrow and the other
Speaker 1: quarterbacks this year. Yeah. Yeah, I think it kind of
Speaker 1: has every year since I've been here. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: because you do from you know, from the day of
Speaker 1: the season ends until the draft. That's it's a good
Speaker 1: bulk of what we do here. And Sattie and I
Speaker 1: think it's a good thing. You know, we were We're
Speaker 1: fortunate that we get input into the process and that
Speaker 1: our opinions are are valued by management and by Duke
Speaker 1: and his staff, and it's definitely something I drawn. The
Speaker 1: Bengals hired you to join the coaching staff in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: You've worked with wide receivers and quarterbacks in the past,
Speaker 1: and as I mentioned, now you are the quarterbacks coach.
Speaker 1: This past season. Zach Taylor puts you in charge of
Speaker 1: game management, and you really studied ends of halves and
Speaker 1: ends of games correct, correct, it was. It was really
Speaker 1: a great experience for me, you know that Zach kind
Speaker 1: of gave me that role. So essentially I would I
Speaker 1: would just every week study situations that occurred across the league,
Speaker 1: and then really leading up into the role, I kind
Speaker 1: of studied the prior year of all the different end
Speaker 1: of half, end of game, two minute, four minute situations,
Speaker 1: and just the decision making process that goes into things like, well,
Speaker 1: when do you call timeout versus when do you hurry
Speaker 1: up to the line and try to get another playoff
Speaker 1: all the clocks running, or you know, there's all sorts
Speaker 1: of different things that come up. You know, when when
Speaker 1: might you decline a penalty you when otherwise it might
Speaker 1: you know, you just naturally think, oh, we want to
Speaker 1: accept that penalty. Well, there might be cases where the
Speaker 1: implications that it has on the clock would lead you
Speaker 1: to want to decline the penalty. So there's just all
Speaker 1: sorts of little rules things that go in there and
Speaker 1: all the things that you have to factor into making
Speaker 1: decisions very quickly on game day that can have an
Speaker 1: effect on whether you went or lose. Let's go back
Speaker 1: to the Miami game, next to last game of the
Speaker 1: regular season. You're down by twenty three in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton throws a touchdown pass to cut it to
Speaker 1: sixteen with six eleven to go, and when Miami got
Speaker 1: the ball back, you started calling timeouts immediately. You called
Speaker 1: one with six or two to go, You're out of
Speaker 1: time out to about four minutes to go. Was that
Speaker 1: specifically the result of you studying when do you timeouts
Speaker 1: at the ends of games? Uh? Yeah, I think it
Speaker 1: probably played played a pretty large role in those decisions.
Speaker 1: I know Zach was was was looking for my input
Speaker 1: and those parts of the game, and he, you know
Speaker 1: very much would would listen to the suggestions that that
Speaker 1: that we made. UM. You know, we also had UM
Speaker 1: Sam Francis, who's a analytics UM guy with US and Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: was tremendous help to me and he was sitting right
Speaker 1: next to me on game days, so he would kind
Speaker 1: of help with those decisions as well. But yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: really at that point in the game, it just it
Speaker 1: becomes about maximizing the value of your timeouts, and so
Speaker 1: when you're trying to get the ball back, you want
Speaker 1: to use timeouts in situations where you have a high
Speaker 1: likelihood of preventing the team from converting a first down,
Speaker 1: and so it becomes a little strategic. You can be
Speaker 1: a little more, um, it can vary a little more
Speaker 1: in terms of when you use them when there's more
Speaker 1: time left on the clock and when you're still in
Speaker 1: a two score game like that, you're really in your
Speaker 1: inform in a mode even though there's still six minutes
Speaker 1: less than the game, just because of how many points
Speaker 1: you still need to score. Bill Belichick seemed to expose
Speaker 1: a loophole in the rules last year with an intentional
Speaker 1: delay of game followed by an intentional false start because
Speaker 1: you can't have back to back intentional delay of games,
Speaker 1: and then the Titans used it against Bill Belichick in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. What would your reaction when he did that
Speaker 1: and did the team go over it the next week? Well, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, to be honest, it's it's something that has
Speaker 1: happened a lot in the past in NFL games. It's
Speaker 1: you know, we were we were well aware of that strategy. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, prior to the season, we talked about it
Speaker 1: with with with coach Simmons, and unfortunately we weren't ahead
Speaker 1: in many games in the fourth quarter where we could
Speaker 1: have used it to our advantage. But it's it's something
Speaker 1: we you know, we were aware of and just really
Speaker 1: never came up in terms of us being able to
Speaker 1: use it. But I think they're talking about, if they
Speaker 1: haven't already, the Competition Committee maybe maybe closing that loophole.
Speaker 1: But it was it was something we knew could potentially happen,
Speaker 1: and it was. It wasn't all that surprising to see it.
Speaker 1: We're visiting the Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. We are
Speaker 1: doing this interview one week to the day after the
Speaker 1: selection of Joe Burrow number one overall in the draft.
Speaker 1: Of his many impressive qualities, what's at the top of
Speaker 1: the list for you? Well, I'll kind of go in
Speaker 1: two different categories as a as a as a player,
Speaker 1: just his physical skill set. The easiest one is his accuracy,
Speaker 1: but I even look a little bit more at his
Speaker 1: ability to manipulate the pocket and extend the play. I
Speaker 1: think he has tremendous natural feel, pocket presence, spatial awareness
Speaker 1: to where he can do things that just come very
Speaker 1: natural to him. With a lot of chaos around him.
Speaker 1: He remains calm home and he can escape. He can
Speaker 1: move within the pocket and still deliver the ball. It's
Speaker 1: something that really jumps out at you. And then the
Speaker 1: other thing I would just look at it just um
Speaker 1: his intangible is his makeup. He's an intense competitor. He
Speaker 1: has a big picture perspective that's uncommon for rookie quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and he's capable of handling a lot mentally, and so
Speaker 1: that that bodes well for his development going forward. Leading
Speaker 1: up to the draft, the team took advantage of every
Speaker 1: zoom call opportunity it had to talk with Joe, and
Speaker 1: you were involved in that. What did those zoom meetings
Speaker 1: typically involve? Well, we use them mainly isn't a valued
Speaker 1: of measure? So we're really this is kind of across
Speaker 1: the board, not just with Joe, but you're you're, you're
Speaker 1: you're teaching them some uh specific things to our offense
Speaker 1: and then kind of asking him to teach it back
Speaker 1: just to test the ability to process to routine to
Speaker 1: recall that stuff. Um. So that's a pretty standard process.
Speaker 1: And you know you're watching tape, you watch some of
Speaker 1: LSU tape, you watch some Bengals tape, and and in
Speaker 1: there too, you're trying to get to know the person,
Speaker 1: um And it's not easy to do when you're doing
Speaker 1: it via the internet, but you try to have just
Speaker 1: some personal conversations get to kind of know how how
Speaker 1: he ticks. And I think we're able to do that
Speaker 1: pretty well. Dan, You're only thirty three years old, and
Speaker 1: if Joe is the starting quarterback has anticipated your career
Speaker 1: as a quarterbacks coach is going to align with his
Speaker 1: career as a starting quarterback. What does that mean to you? Well,
Speaker 1: I know how hard I'm going to work, and everything
Speaker 1: I've learned about Joe suggests, uh, He's going to be
Speaker 1: the exact same way. And so it's it's comforting to
Speaker 1: um to know, you know, as a young coach with
Speaker 1: a with a young player, that he's wired the way
Speaker 1: that he is, and you know, in terms of big picture,
Speaker 1: you know what it means career wise, I'm not really
Speaker 1: concerned with that right now. I'm concerned about really getting
Speaker 1: Joe and and Jake and Ryan, you know, in the
Speaker 1: best position they can be in to play their best football.
Speaker 1: And when you're doing that, you don't have much time
Speaker 1: to think about other stuff. How difficult is it going
Speaker 1: to be for Joe to prepare for his rookie year
Speaker 1: without a typical offseason program. Yeah, it's It's definitely a
Speaker 1: new element that we're not used to having to navigate,
Speaker 1: and so it'll be tough. Just how tough, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know that anybody can say right now, because
Speaker 1: we don't know how long this is gonna last and
Speaker 1: when we'll be able to get back together, so we
Speaker 1: can't worry about it. We just have to put together
Speaker 1: a structure that gives gives all of our guys a
Speaker 1: great chance to be successful. And then whenever the physical
Speaker 1: reps do come back, we got to take advantage of
Speaker 1: every single one of them because they will be fewer
Speaker 1: than they have been in the past. A couple more
Speaker 1: questions for Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. The Bengals have
Speaker 1: decided to release Andy Dalton to give him the opportunity
Speaker 1: to sign on with another team. What are your biggest
Speaker 1: takeaways from working with Andy for a few years? Good player,
Speaker 1: an even better person. He's been outstanding with me, you know,
Speaker 1: just getting to know him over the last four years,
Speaker 1: and you know, working closer and closer with him every year.
Speaker 1: Got great admiration for his character, for his professionalism, how
Speaker 1: he's approached his role, and how he's prepared for his
Speaker 1: role and been able to have success over a long
Speaker 1: period of time. Obviously, none of us are satisfied or
Speaker 1: happy with the lack of wins in the recent couple
Speaker 1: of years, but you know, and he's done everything that
Speaker 1: he could have done. Um and um um, I'll always
Speaker 1: be an Andy Dalton fan. I hope wherever he goes
Speaker 1: he continues to have success, just not against the Bengals.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know he's he's going to continue do
Speaker 1: great things. He's a he's a really good person. Um.
Speaker 1: He's made a lot of impact in the community that
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with football. So I think I
Speaker 1: had a ton of respect for him. Last thing for
Speaker 1: Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher. In the last year, I've
Speaker 1: heard Zach Taylor refer to you as a superstar and
Speaker 1: as a rising star. Describe your relationship with the boss. Well,
Speaker 1: it's often nice him to say those things. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know about either of those characterizations. But Zack's
Speaker 1: been great with me from the beginning. I had met
Speaker 1: Zack maybe one time before he got the job, and
Speaker 1: he has given me responsibility and treated me with a
Speaker 1: type of respect that I probably hadn't even earned when
Speaker 1: he yeah here. So I'm very grateful for that, and
Speaker 1: I just want to do the best job possible so
Speaker 1: that we all can have success. Appreciate the time, best
Speaker 1: of luck and your interactions with Joe Burrow and the
Speaker 1: other Cincinnati quarterbacks and look forward to seeing you face
Speaker 1: to face when that's allowed again. Thanks to I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Prime Sport, the
Speaker 1: official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast