The Season with Peter Schrager: Cincinnati Bengals OC Brian Callahan, a Brock Purdy Deep Dive, and Why The Vikings Get No Respect

Bengals OC Brian Callahan joins the show to discuss the magic of Joe Burrow, the long list of quarterbacks he’s coached (Tebow, Manning, Stafford, Carr, Burrow), lessons from his father Bill Callahan, and what the Bengals fan base means to the team and the state of Ohio. Peter also explains why the 49ers are uniquely built for their latest injury setback, why the Vikings get no respect, and the wonderful Sunday Cameron and Connor Heyward had in Atlanta. Aaron joins to give us a full Brock Purdy deep dive.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
NFL in partnership with My Heart Radio. What's Up, Everybody?
This is Peter Schreeger on the host of Good Morning
Football on the NFL network. I work on Fox NFL

(00:29):
Kickoff on Sundays for Fox Sports, and my newest venture
is this beautiful podcast called This Season with Peter Schreeger.
We are getting more and more listeners every week. It
is a sign of great strength, but a sign of
great growth. And at the end of the year, I'm
just grateful for everyone who has been listening and has
been coming along on the ride. I am joined by

(00:52):
my producer, Aaron woon Kaufman. Aaron, what is up man?
Week fourteen? How are you? I'm pretty good. It was
a great week of football this weekend. There was like
I feel like a lot of storylines, a lot of
playoff pictures coming together. Really exciting weekend. It lived up
to the to the billing last weekend. It was one
of those deals where I around Tuesday was like, wait

(01:12):
a second, this has got loaded weekend. We've got you know, giants, commanders,
You've got the Dolphins and the Niner storyline. You've got Uh,
this incredible Bengals Chiefs rematch. And then sure enough find
myself on Monday night up until midnight watching Saints Buccaneers
and I posed this question um on Good Morning Football
to start the show. Everyone you know on Tuesday morning

(01:34):
and that's where we're recording this right now, is like,
what a come back by Brady? What an amazing thing
by Brady. In fact, uh, there was a tweet that
went out and it was it was from front off
his Sports. They said, tonight, with just over three minutes
to go, the Bucks trailed by the felt the Saints
by thirteen points. They had a three point three percent
chance to win at that point pre HISPN and with
eight seconds left, Tom Brady through the latest game winning

(01:56):
touchdown of his twenty three year career. And your initial
reaction is, Brady is amazing. How did he do it?
You can never count him out? And that's all right.
I cannot get over that collapse by the Saints. And
maybe that says a lot about me as a person,
And maybe that says something about me as AH in
a psychotherapy situation where I look at that Super Bowl

(02:20):
three and I'm like, yeah, Brady was great, but I
also look at it as how did Dan Quinn, Matt Ryan,
Kyle Shanahan, Grady Jarrett, in the entire Atlanta Falcons organizations
sleep the next day? Last night, Aaron, the Saints gave
that game away to the Buccaneers, and about thirty five
different ways. I'm talking about everything from mark ingram running

(02:40):
out of bounds and stopping the clock one yard short
of a first down to put the game away. I'm
talking about throwing the ball on third and one and
then punting the ball on fourth and one, which made
no sense. I'm talking about a six man defensive backfield
that was a prevent defense for the last two drives
that just basically let Brady just walk right up and
down the field. Um. If I'm a Bucks fan, I

(03:02):
am elated this morning. It's your six and six. You're
in the thick of the playoff hunt, probably hosting a
playoff game. Great. If I am a Saints fan, I
am sick this morning. It's games like those that cost
you playoff spots. It's games like those that that cost
people jobs. Um, does that say more about me as
a person? There? And deep cut here, I just watched
the Jonah hill Um doc on Netflix with his psychologists

(03:25):
or psychiatrist Phil Stuts, And it's all about, like, you know,
introspection and look at what did say about me that
I always look at the negative. And I'm like that
the Bucks didn't when that game the Saints lost that game.
I don't know, I mean, especially because I feel like
everyone is so optimistic with the Bucks and Brady, like
so much of the narrative has been, oh, they will

(03:46):
pull it together. Brady is going to obviously make the playoffs.
They're gonna, They're gonna, the offense is gonna work suddenly,
you know, come January, and and maybe everyone else is
being too positive about them. I don't know, watching them, like,
I love Mike Evans, I love Chris Godwin, and it
just seems like the offense isn't work. King, I think

(04:07):
you're right. I think like it's not wrong to be
too pessimistic about him. Yeah, and uh, I was really
just asking you about to talk about me. Um, you
missed the assignment there. I didn't need your Saints Bucks thoughts.
I'm just kidding. I love your Saints Bucks thoughts. You
want to be four downs? Yeah, let's go. Let's go,
all right, first down without Jimmy G are the forty
Niner is done? What do you think is gonna happen? Now?

(04:29):
I think the forty Niners are far from done, and
I think it's multiple reasons why I still am quite
optimistic about this forty Niners team. First off, there is
no franchise more uniquely qualified to get through a major
adversity as far as an injury goes than the forty Niners.

(04:50):
And I'm not talking about just Trey Lance. This summer,
which everyone was already penciling him in as a starter,
he goes down and Jimmy G just fills right in.
That one is like we knew, Jimmy G. I go
back to now you know that in twenty nineteen they
went to the Super Bowl. They were a Jimmy Garoppolo
pass away from winning a Super Bowl. In one they
went to the NFC Championship Game. They were a few

(05:11):
plays away from going to the Super Bowl. Sandwich in
between that was a crazy COVID season where they lost
everyone to injury. Jimmy Garoppolo missed ten games, right He
Mostard missed eight games, Deebo Samuel miss nine games, Kittle
missed eight games, Trent Williams miss games of an elbow
d Ford missed fifteen games of the back injury. Nick

(05:33):
Bosa missed four team games with a knee injury. Richard
Sherman missed eleven weeks is of the Week. The year
after they went to Super Bowl, they didn't go to
the playoffs that year. They want a lot of games though,
and then to make matters worse in December of that
season because of the California state laws or their county
state laws because of COVID, they weren't allowed to play

(05:54):
games in their home stadium and they weren't allowed to
practice in their home stadium in the final month of
the season, so they had to live in a Glendale,
Arizona Renaissance hotel, play their home games in Arizona, be
away from their families, have the tightest COVID, and they
were winning games during that I think this forty Niners team,

(06:16):
and most of those guys are still there, are are
just one of one when it comes to like dealing
with crap. When it comes to injuries. Jimmy's gone down
multiple times for this team. He went down the first
year he got there. He went down. They'll be okay
and I think Kyle shannah and and John Lynch have
been together through all of this, and it's one of

(06:38):
those deals where it's like, all right, here's another adversity.
Whereas other teams, I think they get that and it's
a gut punch and it's like, all right, pack it in.
If you notice, they didn't miss a beat when Brock
Purtie came in Sunday against the Dolphins. In fact, their
offense looked actually better, I thought with Purdie running the thing. Now, look,
they're gonna miss Garoppolo's experience, They're gonna miss Garoppolos leadership.
They're gonna miss Garoppolo as a better NFL player than

(07:00):
Brock Purty. Objectively he is. If he wasn't, Brock Purty
would have been starting this season, they would have been
the number two coming into this season. Garoppolo is better.
This is a major setback, but it doesn't mean it's
their season. And I've been going through the annals of
time with the NFL and looking for like good you know,
I guess examples of this and it has to be
very specific. It's a guy who was third string, who

(07:21):
was a rookie who came in and the one that
I got was Shaun King from Tulane goes back Aaron
before your time as a fan. We know that the
Rams won the greatest show on turf, But the Buccaneers
that year were coached by Tony Dungee and they had
warned Sap and Derrek Brooks and Ron day Barber and

(07:42):
John Lynch and Donnie Abraham and they were loaded. They
were loaded, and they had a really good backfield with
work done and Mike Alstott and Trent Dilford was their quarterback.
Dilford was up and down all season. He goes down
with an injury. Eric Zire went down with an injury,
and they go to Shaun King, who was a rookie
at IT Tulane, and he won them games, and he

(08:04):
won them a playoff game, and he got them right
to the end of the NFC Championship game against the
greatest show on turf and came just short. I look
at Shaun King, a reference that is twenty three years old,
and say, if Shaun King could do what he did
for the Buccaneers in ninety nine, brock Purty can do
the same for the forty niners. I am not out

(08:24):
on the forty Niners. In fact, I think they're gonna
be okay, and I still think they're gonna win their division. Awesome. Alright,
second down, what do you make of the Vikings who
are now ten and two with a big win over
the Jets, big win over the Jets. And yet I
look at the the odds and I look at the
spreads this weekend. Then I'm not a big gambler. In fact,

(08:46):
I don't gamble, but I look at the stuff out
of just curiosity and I like to know where where
people are putting their heads at. The Detroit Lions are
favored at five and seven over the ten and two
Minnesota Vikings this weekend when they play. So what is
going on here? I I don't I don't hate it.
I think it's it's actually fair. They have nine one

(09:08):
score game wins, meaning they've won nine different games by
seven points or less. They win against the Jets wasn't
convincing to me because they were up big and they
let the Jets come all the way back and it
took a miraculous, you know, red zone stop at the
end to win by five in a game that they
were up by seventeen. This isn't the first time they've
done that. I'm gonna go through the list. But week

(09:28):
four they let the Saints back in the game. Week five,
they let the Bears come back into the game. Week six,
they let the Dolphins back into the game. In Week eight,
they let the Cardinals back into the game. They win
all these games, but they do so only by letting
the team come all the way back and they have
to fight it out at the very last seconds. Let's
go through them. Week four, they were up by six
and a half and they win five against the Saints

(09:50):
team that probably didn't belong on the same field that
they they against. The Bears were up twenty one to
three and ended up having to squeak one out after
the Bears went nineteen zero on a run and they
had to just squeak it out at the end to
win Dolphins game. They're up ten three going into the fourth.
They're sixteen to three with fourteen minutes left against the
Dolphins third string quarterback Skyler Thompson, and of course the

(10:13):
Dolphins come all the way back and they have to
hang on and get an interception at the end and
uh and win twenty four to sixteen. Cardinals. They're up
fourteen tenant to half. Cardinals come racing back. They have
to you know, pull them out of their out of
their back pocket at the end. And then the sting
of the Jets there. Of course, they're winning the whole
game and the Jets you know, all the way back
and they have to have an interception at the end.

(10:35):
That's not convincing to me. And yet the counter to that,
Aaron is their tenant to shut up. A win is
a win. No one cares about that, and those wins
are going to help them down the stretch. I don't
see it that way. I think this Vikings team there's
something up when they have to let every team back
into the game and they've got to just survive by
the skin of their teeth. I understand, uh why the

(10:56):
Lions are favored, and I'm sorry, I just I can't
be all in on the tenant two Vikings. I think
the Eagles and the Cowboys are playing better football. Okay,
third down? Can the Raiders on the backs of Josh
Acomes and Davante Adams, can they make a run here?
Can they make a playoff push? It's fun, isn't it?
The Raiders for two and seven less than a month ago,
and people were calling for Josh mcdaniels's head. They've won

(11:16):
three in a row in dramatic fashion. They're five and
seven right now, the Las Vegas Raiders, and Josh Jacobs
is playing better than any running back in football, uh
Davante Adams justin Jefferson Tyree Hill included, is playing better
than any wide receiver in football. Derek Carr is playing well,
Max Crosby is getting to the quarterback, and they're winning
games five and seven right now. The remaining schedule a

(11:39):
Thursday night game at the Rams. They will win that game.
A Sunday game against the Patriots that has now been
flexed out of Sunday night into a late window. The
Patriots have lost two straight and they seem to be
on fumes right now. A Christmas Eve game on the
fifty year anniversary of the Immaculate Reception at Pittsburgh. I

(11:59):
know Pittsburgh's won a couple of games in a row here,
but if the Raiders are now rolling in five straight
wins going into Pittsburgh, I'd like to think they've got
a pretty good shot and are gonna be feeling themselves
a new Year's Day game against the forty Niners in Vegas,
with the forty Niners now suddenly with Brock Purty at quarterback,
and may have already clinched their division. And they end

(12:20):
the season at home against the Chiefs. And I'm assuming
the Chiefs have already locked up the division. The Chiefs
might know where they're playing in the playoffs. They might
have locked up the one seed based on things how
things go. Even if that's not the case, the Chiefs
will have locked up a playoff Berth and the Raiders
were playing for everything. I think the Raiders can run
the table here at Rams home against the Patriots, at

(12:43):
Steelers home against the Niners, home against the Chiefs. If
the Raiders run the table, they go from five and
seven to six and seven, seven and seven, eight and seven,
nine and seven, finish the season ten and seven their
playoff team if they go ten and seven. Alright, fourth down?
Who do you want to shout out this week? This
is a sentimental one. One of our favorite guys that
comes on the show on Good Morning Football is Cameron Heyward.

(13:06):
He is a wonderful young man. He's a great player.
He's also one of the fiercest defensive aligneman in the sport.
He and I have had a long relationship based on
his appearances on our show, but last year I specifically
remember they were going up against the Bills, and for
the first three days on the show Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
I'm like, the Bills are gonna beat them. The Bills
are gonna beat them. The Steelers have no shot. Cameron

(13:28):
Aywards our guest on a Thursday, and Cameron Ayward comes
on and he's like, Sugar, you're gonna eat your words.
You're gonna eat your words. We're not losing the Bills.
Just watch the Bills beat them. And I felt pretty
proud about that. We fast forward to the draft. There's
Cameron Heyward at a draft event by the NFL where
I was invited to. I walk in. I believe Roger
Goodell was there, Mark Sanchez, I remember being there, Uh,

(13:51):
Andrew Whitworth there. I walk in and there's Cameron Hayward
and I'm like, oh, here, I do I gotta go,
and you know, face up this guy. I'mna have one
of these moments where he's gonna stare me down, the
biggest hug, the greatest laughs. And we talked for about
a half hour, and his whole thing was, I want
to get into media. I want to have an opportunity
to do what you do. And this thing is done,
and we talked about it, the importance of going to

(14:12):
the broadcast book Cavin. He also talked about his little brother.
He had a little brother who was an h back,
tight end running back type out of Michigan State and
was trying to get drafted. And you know he's asking me,
it's the day before the draft. I don't think it's
a first round pick. I'm not sure he's the second
round pick. But you know there's a shot. Well, his brother,
Connor went in the sixth round and he was drafted
by guess who, the Pittsburgh Steelers. So the two of

(14:35):
these guys have been playing together all season long, Connor
fighting for a spot on the active roster. You know
Cam obviously the team captain and the Walter Payton Man
of the Year nominee and an all time guy. Will
they go down and they play the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday,
And here's the story everyone might not know. Um, their
father is Craig Ironhead Hayward, of course, a great New

(14:55):
Orleans saint and a great Atlanta falcon who was tragically
taken from us. Uh, you know, shortly thereafter his playing career.
So when not everybody knows is that the morning the
game before kickoff, they're in Atlanta, obviously, and Cameron Hayward
and his brother Connor went to the grave site of

(15:16):
their father and they visited the grave site and then
they go out and they play this game and Cam
Hayward's all over the field and guess who scores his
first NFL touchdown? Connor Hayward scores a touchdown, beautiful one
in the back of the end zone. And after the game,
Cameron Hayward was full of tears, was incredible, and he
was wearing his father's falcon's jersey at the number thirty four,

(15:39):
the Craig Ironhead Hayward. I believe we have a clip
of his press conference after the game. Take a listen.
Uh if I could share a story like this morning,
me and him went to my dad's grave and you know,
we got to share a moment there. Um and so
I was pretty emotional when uh, you know, he got
the touchdown. Uh. I don't like to be Mr SAPPI,

(16:01):
but like that that like really hit me. Luckily there
wasn't a camera on me because I was a mess.
I love Cameron Heyward. He's an awesome guy. He's gonna
be great in media when he's done with his thing.
And he's still one of the top players. And as
of today, he was nominated for the Walter Payton Man
of the Year Award. I really hope he wins it.
He's incredible in the community. I don't know his little
brother Connor, but I love that he scored a touchdown

(16:22):
and I love that story. Those are my guys who
get a shout out on fourth down? Aaron, what about you? Alright?
So my fourth down shout out this week is for
Mr Irrelevant himself. Brock Purty did a little bit of
deep diving into him. I mean, I'm not I will
admit I'm not the biggest Iowa State fans, so I didn't.
I didn't know a ton about him before this weekend

(16:43):
and lighten us make us smarter. So so, Brock Purty
is born in Queen Creek, Arizona. His father, Sean, was
a huge Dolphins fan, and in fact, the day that
Brock was born, that night his dad had him on
his lap watching a Dolphins. That's hilarious, and they just
beat the Dolphins. Keep going, comes, this is why you're here.

(17:04):
Come on. His dad's favorite player it was Marino, and
so of course Brock falls along with his dad. He's
a big Marino fan. But then he also grew up
really idolizing Tim Tebow. So he plays high school at
Perry High School. Um, he's he's there. His sophomore year,
he's split in time at quarterback. He has an okay season,
but then he gets motto and he misses the mono nucleosis.

(17:27):
Mono nucleosis. Uh misses the entire summer. Yeah, um, this
is the whole summer. Uh. And like the first three
games of his junior year, he loses I think it
was like twenty five pounds, which, like for a junior
in high school, is a lot of um. But he's
determined to get his career back going. He's not getting

(17:48):
any attention from the big schools, so he works with
local quarterbacks coach Steve Axeman, who famously also worked with
Troy Aikman. Okay, um, I mean, I'm sure you knew
all about the accident going. Um. So then Brock goes

(18:09):
on to throw for over three thousand yards. He gets
He's named Gatorades Football Player of the Year, State foot
Player like Nation Like. That's huge. He's the Arizona Republic's
high School Football Player in the Year All Arizona QB.
He gets all these awards, but big college is still
not really showing him any interest, and he gets offers

(18:31):
from like U n LV, Northern Arizona, New Mexico State,
but none of the big schools that he's looking for.
So he goes into senior year, playing throughout the season
not getting the attention. He leads the Pumas, which is
their mascot, to their first state football final. It's December.
He finally gets a walk on opportunity with Alabama, which

(18:53):
is a huge deal. Can walk on, walk on. It's
not a scholarship, it's not an offer, it's a walk
on opportunity. Um. He then also gets a little interest
from Kansas, and then later in December he gets Kansas
gives him a full offer or an actual offer, and
Boise State offers him a scholarship. He keeps saying I'm

(19:14):
gonna wait, I'm gonna wait till the signing days and
make some decisions. Then in January, UCF offers him. Brock
goes to visit Boise State, and then Alabama starts pushing
and the Alabama assistant coach comes to visit him, and
he says, Saban won't let me make an offer yet,
I have to go call him and get back to you.
Then the next day, the assistant coaches flight is canceled.

(19:37):
He can't get out, and he calls Saban and Saban
gives him the okay to offer Brock a full scholarship.
So he went from a walk on opportunity to full scholarship.
Done go to Alabama? What are do? And you're gonna
put Tua and Matt Jones and Jalen Hurts go instead.
He also gets an offer from Iowa State and Arizona State,
U C, l A, Texas A, and m He's and

(19:59):
one thing I really loved like when he did make
his announcement, his his dad pointed out that, like Brock,
he pushed the date of his announcement because there were
other players who were announcing where they were going that day,
and Brock didn't want to take the spotlight from them.
He didn't want to be front and center like this
at his announcement. It was a bunch of people at

(20:19):
the table with him. He was the only one with him, Mike,
and he was uncomfortable about that, which is like a
nice little personality. So he goes to Iowa State because
like when he went there, they went to a basketball game.
The student body is all chanting, I've been It's fun.
So he goes. He's the third string quarterback. He's wearing

(20:40):
number fifteen, Tebow's number. And in the freshman year, um
he's behind Kyle Kempt and zeb Noland. Kempt gets injured
and Nolan gets benched and Purdy is starting as a freshman.
There he went. He played four years with Iowa State,
three of those years with Breece haw Jets running back.
And you know he finished his career as the winning

(21:01):
ist QB and I started Division one. Yeah, he won
games he started. That's incredible. And he's the program's leader
in passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, completion percentage and like
he's one of only six players in Big twelve history
with ten thousand passing yards and a thousand rushing yards.

(21:22):
Other people on that list, they're Sam Ellinger, Baker Mayfield,
r G three, Colt McCoy um, and then this year
he gets drafted with the last pick by the Niners.
And there have been seven other quarterbacks who have been
drafted as Mr. Irrelevant, most recently Chad Kelly. But Brock
is the first one to throw a touchdown pass in
the NFL and he's doing it wearing number thirteen Day

(21:45):
Marina's number. And the first game that he wins, it's
against the Dolphins, and against two was the quarterback in
Alabama when he was probably being recruited. I love that,
Aaron great job. I honestly didn't know a lot of that.
I'll add um one thing, and it's a small little nugget.
We showed the draft video on Good Morning Football Today
Tuesday of when Brock pretty was drafted. He was selected

(22:08):
as the very last pick of the seventh round. His
family is jumping up and down. He's excited, they're hugging
each other. I think that Mr. Irrelevant thing. A lot
of players are insulted by it. They don't want to
be Mr. Irelevant. It means that you know, Twitter and
fifty five other people were taking before you. It reminds you, hell,
I was just drafted by an NFL team. My dream

(22:29):
has been realized. If I do nothing else, I was
drafted by an NFL team. But it sounds like that
was just to start for brock party story. But thank
you for all those beginning chapters. Really good job are
thank you. Yeah. I'm excited to see what he does
this weekend. Yeah. Um, and now it's for our time
for our guest. I am so pumped to bring this
guy on. I don't think he does a ton of media,
and I think when he gets on the microphone, you're

(22:49):
gonna see what he might be the next head coach
of your NFL team. It's one of most successful offensive
coordinators in football over the last two years. He's young,
he's thirty eight. He's the man. Let's get Bengals offensive
coordinator Brian Calahan on the horn. I'm beyond excited to
introduce our next guest to the season with Peter Schrager. Uh.

(23:12):
He's the offensive coordinator of the reigning a f C
champion Cincinnati Bengals. He's one of the great young offensive
minds in football, and he's also a hell of a
mentor and teacher. Took both quarterbacks and skill position players
and offensive linemen alike, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome in
Brian Callahan from the Cincinnati Bengals. Awesome, good to be here.
Appreciate it, dude, I love having you on. Uh, this

(23:34):
is great. And as we're recording this where two days
removed from what was hyped as the rematch of all
rematches and really played out as the heck of a game.
And I came away from it thinking this Bengals team,
they don't waiver, they don't quiver, and that quarterback is something.
What was your takeaway? And now that we're forty eight
hours removed from the big win against the Chiefs on Sunday,

(23:54):
the same things. You know. It really was excellent performance
by Joe probably playing the quarterback position as good as
anybody in football right now. Uh, we go as he goes,
and his ability to stay calming him amen um and
make clutch plays when when clutch players are required are
are one of his great strengths. And so you get
a chance to play that team at home. Uh, you know,

(24:15):
nine and nine and three football team and are probably
arguing me the best team in the a f C.
And I thought we answered the bell and showed that
we're for real, and we're contenders in the in the
a f C and hopefully for the for the whole,
for the whole thing. You're awesome. We're gonna get into
your whole story and what you're all about. But you
mentioned Joe, you know, Joe Burrow to act said yesterday
on the show, I'm like, he's so dialed in. It

(24:36):
almost seems like he's unflappable at points. I think he's
like almost a robot or an alien, and that he
doesn't seem to go up or down. He's just so
laser focus. What's it like prepping for games with Joe
Burrow and then when the bullets are flying in the
actual moments within the sixty minutes, what's it like being
able to coach him and really be in his ear. Yeah,
it's a lot of fun getting ready for games because

(24:57):
he's he's he is super dialed in. I mean during
the week, it's he's got a laser focus all the time.
How you see him on game days is really how
he is in the meeting room on the practice feel
his ability to focus and compartmentalize and get ready for
a game is maybe one of the best I've been around,
and I've been around some good ones, and UM, you
know that that type of intensity is is fun to

(25:18):
be around. It might not be for everybody, um, but
that's that's what makes him great. And and he's he's
growing and learning and becoming a more mature quarterback kind
of every week that goes on. And it's been really
fun to see his growth from the start to the finish.
Now we're we're you know we're at right now from
when we drafted him. So, UM, you know it's intense
and that's the way you wanted to be when you're
starting quarterbacks like that. We love stories here on the pod.

(25:41):
And I remember when you guys had that first overall pick.
Zack and I were talking and there was Herbert and
there was two uh. And now that it's two and
a half years removed, I can tell you at the
combine in February or March, he's like Burrows the dude,
and and he wasn't giving me away any government secrets.
You guys had the number one pick and he's like, bro,
and the conviction that he had back then, and that

(26:04):
Zach Taylor the head coach, he's like, it's just give
me your best Joe Burrow, either scouting or pre draft interaction,
either looking at my LSU like, when did you guys
know in that building that as much as we love
these other guys and they might go on to be
bigger and better than Burrow someday, some far time away. Um,
that you knew Burrow with the guy for the Cincinnati Bengals. Uh,

(26:25):
we just we saw the I mean I knew when
I watched him play in the college playoff. Um, And
we were obviously getting close to picking at number one,
and once we had cemented that pick, after watching those games,
you come away with the guy that You're like, Wow,
this guy unflappable, great creator. Um, you could tell the
guys that LS you respected him. What an incredible journey

(26:46):
from going to Ohio State and then being able to
win over the l s U locker room in a
really short amount of time. And that's what we needed
here in Cincinnati. We needed a player that had that ability.
And after watching that, I was pretty much sold. Obviously,
we did our homework, we evaluated everybody, but that was
the moment where I was like, I think this is
the guy for us. And the best part was when
we you know, that was COVID year, so we had

(27:07):
all kinds of restrictions and hadn't really got a chance
to see him. He didn't have a pro day, um,
and so everything was virtual. So the first time we
got to see him in person was at the combine
for our short you know, our short top top fifty
meetings that we get there, um, and he was very
much himself. He had no nerves, He kind of knew
what was coming, and we all walked out of that meeting.

(27:29):
I think everybody in that room thinking that's what it's
supposed to look like. You know, that's that's the guy.
So it's a good feeling when that happens. Now, take
us through last year's playoff run, Um, what you learned
about him there, and what's your best story from Burrow
either in the Tennessee game or you know, the following
week where you guys have another victory, and then of

(27:50):
course in the a f C Championship game when you
play against the Chiefs. Yeah, I think the n f
C Championship game was was awesome. It was uh, you know,
having to come back from that deficit, you know, we
had to come back for him, just to see him
on the sidelines he just you knew as soon as
he walked on a few we had a shot. And
everything that he did in that game was incredibly impressive.

(28:12):
The plays that he created. You know, he slipped out
of two of Chris Jones probably sure sacks Um. But
my favorite story was really from the first Kansas City
game when we played him here at home to when
they have seen the anf C North and he came
to the sidelines and we threw we threw a pressure
out to the left side to to um teller Boyd,
and he knew as soon as he came back to

(28:33):
the sideline he said, Hey, Jamar, next time I throw this,
just be ready down the sideline and say he's not
getting enough with We're not gonna They're not gonna be
able to cover you. And so we come back to
that play probably a series or two later, and he
throws it right down the right down the sideline. The
Jamar for for you know, probably touched down so in
real time that hey, if I'm doing this, Boyd play,
I see Jamar in the corner of my eye like
that's going to be open. Yeah, And he came to

(28:55):
the sideline told Jamar, told us to call it again
and we did and he and he answered it with
a with a huge touchdown. So, um, things like that
happened with him every game where he sees, he sees
things happening. He's got incredible vision and understanding of what
defenses are trying to do, whether it located on the field. Um,
and he's got great feedback and he knows exactly how
I wants to attack a team, especially as the game unfolds,

(29:16):
and um, you know he's he said even this week
and ready for the Chiefs that you know they're there,
they're rush lanes. We're going to leave him some opportunities
to create some plays, and he saw him he rushed
for ten times for forty or fifty yards and some
some big play. So he just got a great feel
for the game and what he were what he can
do to win a games. Has been his most impressive

(29:38):
impressive trade so far, and the big moments he never
shots away from him. Your offense is cool because you've
got obviously Burrow, the superstar, but we also have these
wide receivers and then of course the offensive line, the
big boys up front. But I thought this week was interesting,
you know, players in the Chiefs were chirping a little bit.
You guys were chirping back, and then the game starts
on Sunday and it's like this was a war and

(29:59):
that offense galvanized around each other. You guys were trailing.
He came back, tell us about this the identity and
maybe the culture and that locker room, especially from your
side of the ball, the offensive guys. Yeah, I think
we have a really tough minded team. You know, they
don't get to they don't get too up or down.
They're really consistent with their day to day preparation during
the week, which I think makes makes for a really

(30:20):
even keel team on game day. They know what to expect,
they know how the game's gonna unfold. I think they
do a great job of understanding how we're trying to
attack a team. But I think what really showed up
with the last two weeks against the Titans and the
Chiefs is I think we're a tough team, you know,
I think are I think we're willing to get down
and dirty with teams, and we can be physical upfront,
we can move the line of scrimmage, and our backs

(30:42):
run really hard. Um, they run really physical, and when
it was kind of you know where we get plumped
into that finesse uh label sometimes, but we're not a
finesse team. And I think that that's been fun for
us to discover this year is that we're we could be,
We could be as tough as required in the run game.
And those guys in front of really come along done
a nice job. But um, I love I love what
our guys are about. I love the way they play football. Yeah,

(31:04):
and they're deep, like mixing as I've touchdowns less than
a month ago and then now it's samaj p Ryan
back to back weeks with mixing and the concussion protocol
stepping up. I love that part of it. Before we
shift gears. Burrow his style, these these suits that I
couldn't pull off. You and Zack are two of the
most Yeah, you and Zach Taylor two of the most
humble guys. I think of Coach luin a rumo like
you guys are in you know, extra extra large sweatshirts

(31:27):
with beards, and then you've got Joe Burrow and like
a leopard costume. Um what what do you guys joke
about it? Or is it just hey, you let Joe
b Joe and you don't even have that. You don't
even take the this out of it. I don't. I mean,
there's not much we're gonna say to him it's going
to change his mind. I think that's what's that's what's
great about Joe is he's unabashedly himself and he doesn't
really care really what anybody else thinks. Um. And you

(31:48):
know he always says all the time he doesn't have
fashion stense. He just think he likes things that, uh,
he feels are cool, and he just wears him and
for some reason he makes it work. I could never
pull off anything. Um, but that's what makes you pretty special.
That's what's what's fun about him is he's he is
himself all the time. He doesn't try to be anybody else. Um,
and he just kind of wears things that catch his

(32:10):
eye and some for some reason, everybody else seems to
think it's cool. So uh yeah, he gets a little
ribbing every now and again, but um, you know that's
that's part of it when you wear outlandish outfits. And
but he makes it works. Gonna say, as long as
you're winning in the end, you can smoke those cigars,
you know, like it works. Uh, your story is cool
to me. So you grew up in a football family.

(32:30):
Your father is legendary coach Bill Callahan. Um, you go
through high school, you go to U c l A.
You have to make a decision, what do I want
to do with my life, Brian Callahan, you decide I
want to go and follow my father's footsteps. Take us
through those first decisions to go into the line of coaching,
knowing just just how unique of profession that could be. Yeah,

(32:52):
it was. Actually I was. I was finishing up playing.
I was not a very good I was not a
high end football player, which is you know, most of
us that go into coaching usually can't play very well,
so we try to go coach. But I enjoy void football,
enjoy being around it, and I wanted to continue. And
I've initially thought I would go into like athletic director,

(33:13):
that kind of route in college and still be around
the game. But I also knew what coaching was like,
I knew what what it brought. I had no misconceptions
about how the career can go, and it can be
really really fun, it can be really really hard all
at the same time. So I was like, all right, well,
maybe I won't do coaching. Maybe I'll find something else.
And then as I was getting ready to graduate, UM,

(33:34):
Carl Darell, our head coach at the time at U
c l A. It said that, you know, we have
a graduate assistant opening here, UM, if you'd be interested.
And I was like, well, yeah, what the hell I mean,
I'm gonna Yeah, I'll get my graduate degree and uh
and see if I like coaching. And really, once I
made that decision that the rest of his history. I
I got bit by the bug. And I love coaching.

(33:56):
I love being a part of it. And I told
my dad that I wanted to get into it, and
he said, UM, well, if he goes, you know what
you're getting into, and if you want to do it,
I'll dothing I can to help him. Um, but you
just you know, you understand what you're getting into, right,
And I said, yeah, I think I do. Was he
flattered or was he like, son, what are you doing?
You know? Or maybe he said he was the ultimate

(34:17):
honor that you wanted to do it. I think he was.
I think he was excited about the fact that I
was interested in in in doing it. Um, probably because
he knew he could he could help me along and uh,
you know, he's obviously been my biggest mentor and the
biggest influence in my coaching career, and so I think
he felt some pride and that some some connection in that,
which has been great. Um. It's how we've always connected

(34:38):
is through football. And you know, it's like some guys
go fishing with their dads and my dad and I
talked about football and it's great and I love it,
and it's it's been a it's been a really really
fun process of growing through it and talking to him
all the time about all the things and teams and
games and scheme, and um, it's been great. My mom
was the one that wasn't so happy about it when
I told her, Um, she said, she said, you're gonna

(35:01):
get to de grease from U C l A. And
you're gonna do this, And I said, um, I think
I am. I think I am gonna do it. She
wasn't as happy for me, I don't think at the time,
because she's the one that's got to do all the
hard lifting for coaching a move and the family and
selling houses and you know, we moved quite a bit
obviously over the years. But I got lucky to to
finish my high school in one spot. But yeah, coaching

(35:22):
is coaching is a very rewarding profession. It's also very
hard one. When he when he was coach of the Raiders,
um as the head coach, Rich Gannon was the quarterback.
Did you get any interaction with ganex MVP Seas and
He's like, you're so good with quarterbacks and we're gonna
get into it. Like your history with quarterbacks is incredible.
Did you have any as a high school kid, had
any relationship to Rich Gannon who was winning MVP awards? Yeah,

(35:44):
I did. In fact, that was you know, that's always
been the most fun part of growing up a coaches kid,
which I think is you talked to guys that have
gotten into coaching over the years. Um, that's what they
That's what draws into it because all I've ever known
is practice fields and locker rooms and meeting rooms, and
I've just been around it forever. And by the time
I got to high school, you know, I've been bitten
by the football bug. I was enjoyed playing, I'm joyed

(36:06):
the process of it all. And um I started hanging
out at mini camps and training camp. I worked at
training camp when I was in high school. UM, and
so all those years I was up there, I got
to sit in meetings with Rich and John grun And
and my dad, and those were really really formative times
for me. Um, just as a as I reflect back
on all the lessons I learned, probably subconsciously more than

(36:27):
anything else, as you look back at and the things
that you heard and saw and and and observed, everything
you just sort of learned through observing. And it was
an incredible time. Rich was really kind to me. He
he invested a little bit of time in me, and um,
you know, I'd ask him questions and he'd answer him
and he was really great for me as a as
a like a sixteen year old seventeen year old kid,
and Rich Cannon, the MVP the league is answering your questions. Yeah,

(36:49):
it was pretty awesome. UM. And it's you know, and
it's there's there's coaches that were there at the time
that that gave me time. You know. Jim Harbaugh was
there as a quality control coach. Uh. David Shaw was
there as a quality control coach at the time. And
so those are the guys that I, you know, I
would ask questions and be around and they were always
really generous with their time and all all of those
people at as I made a pretty big impact on
me as a as a young football player. Um. And

(37:11):
there's a lot of lessons I drawed back on from
that time to time as a being around those types
of people and players. UM. You know, as sixteen seventeen
year old kid, you have one of the cool like
reputations in the league as a quarterback guru. And it's
not because you have no but it is like I'm
gonna go through the list and you're gonna take me
through it. But you get somewhere and it's all different types.

(37:31):
The first real quarterback I'm looking at your resume here.
You go to Denver and it's you know, the Broncos.
Hears with John Fox and it's before Peyton gets there.
Tim Tebow's the quarterback and he goes in mid season
and you guys went a little run and Tebow time
was a thing. You had to draw up an offense
and nothing against Tebow's skills, but you have to drop
an offense that accentuated his strengths. What was that like

(37:54):
as a young coach and what are your memories of
the Tebow Broncos and Tebow time, and you know, the
mania that really became of it. It was. It was
one of the most wild series of games and events
that I've probably even never been a part of. Just
the momentum that that carried, the adulation that he received,
the ways that we won those games were crazy. Um,

(38:16):
all kinds of wild stuff would happen, and um, it
was just it was a really fun time to be
a you know, I think it was my second year
in the league that happened, and I was like, is
this always what this is like? You know? And um,
but I think we had a really good set of
coaches there. I think that's that was a phenomenal offensive staff.
Was on that staff. I'm picturing that the winds. I
don't remember the staff. Yeah, it was. Mike McCoy was

(38:36):
off as coordinator. Adam Gates was was the quarterbacks coach.
Um uh Tyke Tolbert was a receiver coach. Eric Studisville
was a running back coach. Clancy Barron was our tight
ends coach. Um and and Dave Magazoo was our offensive
line coach. So we had we had a lot of
veteran coaches, a lot of experience guys that have gone
to be head coaches in the NFL, and um, you know,

(38:58):
those guys kind of raised me if you will. You know,
those are the guys that I invested in my career
at a young point, especially you know, Eric Studisville and
Adam Gayson, like those guys really invested in in me
and trying to feel to find an offense that was
really you know, we were doing things then that not
a lot of people were doing the NFL. We had
transitioned to a little bit more quarterback run games, some

(39:20):
of the option game. Um, you know, I had coached
and played in an option offense in high school, so
I felt like I might have had a little bit
of uh experience that was valuable and I could have
some input. And you know, I just thought we did
a great job collectively of finding ways to highlight tim
strengths and um, you know, find a way to win
a bunch of games, and we did. We found a
way to the playoffs in that Pittsburgh game with the

(39:40):
walkoff touchdown and did it was one of the probably
one of the cooler moments in my career. So that
was a lot of fun It's funny because I remember
the Dolphins when I'm not even I'm not looking at
a spreadsheet or anything. Off time I had Dolphins game.
It comes in, you guys, when I remember the Jets
Thursday night game was wild win that one. But I
remember specifically a Bears game where the late Marian Barbera

(40:00):
fumbles late and it's like these things aren't supposed to happen.
Tebow was getting opportunities and it was like this is
written in the stars. And then the Pittsburgh playoff game
where famously, on the first playoff overtime he had's the
late de Marius Thomas on a pass and eventually the
luck ran out, and not luck, but just the Patriots
were too good and they beat you guys on a
Saturday night though, like I think Gronk had seventeen touchdowns.

(40:22):
But this was pretty good that day, I think so.
But it was a great run. And then the following
year it's like all right, for a couple years, it's
it's Peyton Manning and you couldn't think of a more
different thing of like young Tebow trying to draw it
up in the in this in the dirt, like how
we gonna make this work too? Then the ultimate Sheriff
in the ultimate cerebral quarterback shifting from Tebow to Manning.

(40:46):
How does it work with Peyton Manning? And then how
do you get a voice with Peyton Manning when he's
a guy who's got so many accomplishments and it was
obviously had years of wisdom in that brain of his. Yeah,
I think the starting point for me is I had
to earn I had to earn his trust, um in
the in the football world of did I do the work?
Can I do the work, can I keep up? Do

(41:07):
I understand? Can I help him? Um? And I had
to earn that respect, um and earn that trust from
him over over time, and I had to put the
work in And it was It was probably, um, the
most fun I've had coaching in terms of just the
pressure and expectation and intensity. Would he challenge you guys
like I feel like usually it's the coaches challenging the players.
But was painting picturing you and Adam Gaye in the

(41:28):
room and they just peppering you with questions. Yeah, that's
about what it was. And um, and there are all
questions that involved trying to win a football game, and
they it was everything about what he did every day
was trying to be great and trying to win as
many games as possible. And you walk into that meeting
room and you know, you're I'm in charge of the
breakdowns or uh. And and he'd come in and he'd say, hey,
go back to this game, go back to that first

(41:50):
game six weeks ago. And you called this coverage cover six.
But I don't think it's covered six. I think it's
too Tampa. And then you would have to defend yourself. Yeah,
because now you're in the corner. Yeah, all right, and
whether and whether or not you felt like you were
right or he was right. Um, and most of the
time you know he was right. But uh, that's how
you learned. And you learned that that was the type
of intensity that was needed all the time. Um, you know.

(42:12):
And I felt like over over the first part of
those years there, I earned his trust. The information I
gave him was accurate. Um, it was it was the
right information and he could use it in a game.
And UM, you know, I did everything I could to
try to help help us win and and help him
be prepared. And that was my role. Uh. And during
that time in Denver, and it was it was a
ton of fun. Let's go back to that Super Bowl

(42:35):
when you guys beat the Carolina Panthers. Obviously it's this
amazing moment. Uh, paying get the second Super Bowl. Your
memories of that run and uh what you take with
you now as you're in search of another Super Bowl ring. Yeah,
you know that was My memories are probably different than
some other people. Was just because that was that was
a hard season for him in particular. You know it

(42:55):
was he had had the planet fasciatists, he was injured,
Um brock Eyes Swaller had played, we had transitioned from
really his offense into a hybrid of of Gary Kubia
as his offense, and um, you know he was he
was battling the injury. He didn't play well early. Um.
It was just one of those seasons that you look
back and everybody talks about, you know, magical runs, and

(43:15):
there wasn't much magical about it. It was hard. Um,
there was a lot of ups and downs. And I
think that that prepared me for the You get to
these moments and seasons and they're not they're not easy,
and there is no magic, and it's a lot of
hard work. Um, and I think that that really prepared
me to handle these types of runs. As you get going,
there's gonna be ups and downs. Things aren't gonna go great. Um.

(43:36):
You always get those thirty minute TV shows at gloss
over all the things that go into it, and you
see that and you see all the confetti and all
the fun, but you realize that there was, you know,
a lot of things that went into that that that
weren't perfect and weren't always you didn't always feel like
you're on top of the world, and it was a
lot of work. And so I think that that's really
prepared me to to make the runs that we've had
here last year, and and ups and downs that we

(43:58):
had that season and to start this season as well.
That you just know that it's it's not perfect, and
it is hard, and it takes a ton of time
and attention and and work to get there. And at
the end of it, when you put a bow on
all of it, then it feels magical, but there's a
lot of work that goes into And I think that
was a really valuable lesson that year in two dozen
fifteen that, um, you know, and you gotta play your
best at the moment in the season when it's required,

(44:20):
which is usually December in the January, and that's where
you have to play your best football, all right. So
you go from Tebow, which was just ingenuity and and creativity,
go to pay In, which is cerebral, but you know,
one of the greatest ever do it. And then you
get Stafford in Detroit, who's just got the ultimate canon. Um,

(44:41):
your memories of Matthew Stafford, and when you went up
against him in the Super Bowl last year, were you
are you serious? Are we really doing this right now?
That's how I felt. Yeah, I just I have a
ton of respect for Matthew. He's an unbelievable competitor. Um.
You know, he's he's what you would you'd probably call
he's earn the right to be called a warrior, you know,
the things that he plays through, the toughness that he's

(45:02):
uh exhibited over his career, and the incredible pastor that
he's been for the time he's gotten in the league
and until now is um. You know, I think he's
a fantastic player. I loved working with him for you
for two years. It was a good run. We were
a pretty good offense those two years, made the playoffs,
one year, just missed at the second year before they
fired Jim Caldwell there. And uh, I love him as

(45:22):
a person. Um, I think he's an incredible player, and
we had a ton of fun and I like to
think I helped him a little bit um over those
years and and but he's I've always stayed in touch
with him, and you know, I was incredibly happy for
him that he had a chance to display his ability
to the world and uh and win a championship. Unfortunately
he came against at our expense here in Cincinnati. But um,

(45:45):
there's not a whole lot of guys that have more
respect for than Matthew. And I'm happy that he got
a chanced to put his talent on display and win
a Super Bowl ring. And whenever he decides to hang
him up, he's he's got that on the back of
his name as a super Bowl champion. I think that's
pretty great. He sure does. He've had Derek Carr as well,
You've had countless others. Who's the quarterback you haven't had
a chance to coach that You've always had admired from

(46:06):
afar or maybe I've gotten to know and you love
their game. If you were to say, here's a guy
in the league now previously that you just watch him
on tape, whether you were growing up or whether it
was when you were in the coaching and you're just like, gosh,
that guy he could sling it. Uh. You know, there's
so many unique players now. That's the quarterback position has
changed so much and there's so much variance and the
types of guys that have success. Um. I always think

(46:28):
that it's been fun to you know, fun to watch
Justin Herbert play. I think it's been fun to watch
Ji and Hurts find a find a niche and a
role and really play well. Those guys have been really
fun to watch. Um. You know, I I can't say
there's anybody that that would ever be more fun for
me to coach. Drew Brees was always my hero. Uh
is that right? Where is that from? You just love

(46:49):
the undersized quarterback? Just decision what that's That's kind of
what I fancied myself as as a as a young player.
I was a little bit undersized myself, and you know,
I didn't have a huge arm, but I was relatively accurate.
It was kind of where my strengths were. And um
actually followed him. You know he is at Perdue and
they went to the Rose Bowl. I was I wore
fifteen when I was in high school because I was
right around the same time. I was a sophomore and

(47:11):
fifteen at Perdu and he would actually did one of
our games last year. I had a chance time. I've
never got a chance to meet him all the years
I've been in the league. Yeah, the playoff game Raiders Bengals,
he was on the call. Yeah, And I told him
I just when we had a production meeting and I said, hey,
before we started, just I have to pay this. I
was like, you were my absolute hero growing up higholized
everything about your game and it was cool he was.
He's one of my favorite players that I never got

(47:33):
a chance to coach. And that would be the guy
that you know, as a as a fan of quarterback
played it. I always had a ton of respect for
wely love watching him play the game. So I'm glad
I got a chance to finally meet him and tell
him that. But yeah, Drew Brees are probably the one
full circle and we're gonna wrap it soon. But you know,
we're top of mine and we're a topic of the
day stuff. I'm not local media here, but go up
against the Browns this following week and forget they match up,

(47:55):
because that's one thing to me. I look at the
ORG charts here the staffs. You're coaching against your dad.
What is that week like? And now you get it
two times a year. What's it like when you coach
against your pops in an NFL game? Yeah? You know that,
you know, kind of contrary to most coaches kids, I've
never worked for my dad, um. And that was partially
by design early on, and then obviously as my career

(48:16):
has gone, I've always would have loved to work with them,
but never had really had that opportunity line up for us.
And we've actually ended up competing against each other more
often then I think most coaches. Kids compete against their dads. Uh.
And so there's a part of it that's really cool
and really special that you get a chance to do that.
And I can tell my kids that, you know, you know,
dad and Grandpa are facing off today, and that's kind
of a fun thing for them. They they play spot

(48:38):
the Grandpa on TV when they try to find them. Um.
But that part of its fun, the part where we
actually have to compete in the same division for a
division title, and you know, wins and losses matter, and
you're having to go against your own dad when you're
you know, I grew up my dad's biggest fan. Every
team we ever coached for was always a team that
I loved following. And uh, that part is not my favorite.

(48:59):
I don't enjoy that as much. Um, and I don't.
I don't particularly enjoy having a coach and the division
against them. Yeah, it's it's very, very Twice a year
is not my favorite. It's you know, we've gotten good
at we've done it for you know, quite a while now.
But I don't enjoy particularly having to compete against my dad,
just because I think we root for each other success,
and really it kind of goes counterintuitive to all the

(49:21):
things that we've always felt. You know, you're always rotten
for each other that, but now you're not. You're trying
to beat each other in big division games that matter,
and so that that part is not my favorite. But um,
there is something about it that it's pretty unique and special.
It's cool, and it's gonna be a great matchup. Those
guys have had your number of it and years and
and it's time for the Bengals to to see what
they can make of this season. UM, wrapping up, you

(49:42):
know a lot of people around the league listening to
this podcast, people are always chiming in, Hey, this guy,
your name's come up a bunch of someone that they
want to hear from because there's a there's a good
chance you're gonna get one of those HC jobs in
the next couple of years. Uh, what are your values?
What are your your leadership like? What does Brian Callahan
brings to the table to a team? And I'm not
asking you to do any audition or interview from me,

(50:04):
but for those of us who are going to know
you now the first time, what do you bring to
the table and how would you like to be looked
at as a leader? I think I'm consistent. You know
that my approaches is very consistent. My emotions are very consistent.
I think you get that way working with quarterbacks just
because that's how you that's how you have to approach
the position. UM, not to say that I don't have
intensity behind it or I can't get on guys, and UM,

(50:25):
I think you know our guys will be the first
to tell you that that I've fully capable and fully
willing to jump on when that one is necessary. But UM,
I think there's a there is a value and a
consistent demeanor and a consistent approach. UM. I do think
sometimes calmness is contagious. You know, when you're in big moments,
in big, big spots, when everybody's losing their minds, you're
the one that kind of stays calm and steady. And

(50:46):
I've always prided myself on that, um, you know, and
I think my my coaching style is is one of
I try to build relationships the best I can. It's
a it's a people business. That always has been, it
always will be. And UM, the better you get to
know your players, the more they trust you, the more
they buy into what you're saying, the more that um,
they allow you to to enter another relationship trust and
be able to coach and teach from a place that

(51:07):
they always feel like you're you're trying to make them better, UM,
and they're gonna be able to to reach their goals
and dreams as well. That's our jobs as coaches to
put those guys in those positions to to make money
and get paid and win games. And I think that
that's that's always how I've been. I'm probably never going
to change that, and um, you know hopefully that you
know it doesn't whether somebody else likes it or not,
I have no control over that. But um, I try

(51:29):
to do to the best job I can more Matt,
and let the rest of it take care of itself. Yeah,
I mean, just for my You're incredibly intelligent, obviously your humble, UM,
but you are one of those dudes and there's I
guess a lot of coaches say I am too. You
live in breathe football. I feel like it's everything that
we've ever spoken. I just I feel like this is
you're a great family man and all that, and you've

(51:50):
got a wonderful, you know, full life, but you live
in breathe football. And I think that's what the fans
need to know. And my last question, it's it's about
the Bengals fans because I'm on Good Morning Football. We
have watched this rise from the ashes like a phoenix,
and there might be no more passionate fan base that
maybe I didn't even know about going into this job

(52:10):
as one of those fan bases. Maybe it's because of
the winds, maybe it's because of of the style of
Borough and maybe it's just because they've been waiting to
explode with with all of this over the last couple
of years. What has been your impression and reception of
the Bengals fan base and what that thing has become.
They they're the best. Well, I love them, I love Cincinnati,

(52:31):
I love people here, I love living here. But you
can see they're they're passionate about their their city. And
you see a lot of these places, you know, the
Cincinnati is the Buffaloes, the Detroits. People are really really
proud of their cities and what they stand for. And um,
you know, Ohio has always been a great football state. Um.
You know, you look even at the prep football scene
in Cincinnati and throughout the state. I mean there's there's

(52:53):
a passionate support for the sport of football Ohio state.
And those are you see Cincinnati, I mean those Miami Ohio. Um,
there's just a passion for football, and uh, they love
the Bengals and it's it's been a phenomenal Let mean,
the support in the stadium our game days have been
electric this year. It's been really really fun. But they

(53:15):
love football and now they have a they have a
team that they can get behind, and we've we've given
them something to cheer about and be excited about. And um,
I think that that they appreciate it, and and they
don't take it for granted. And they love the fact
that they got a team that's really fun to be
around and fun to follow and and we're competitive and
we can win games. And uh, they've been done a
great job with our atmosphere and it's it's a fun

(53:35):
city to be winning football games. And I think, as
you saw at the end of last year, Uh, you know,
the we can still only envision what a Super Bowl
plade would be like here, but we think about it
every day and and I think it's it's one of
those things that that keeps everybody going because the fan
base has been fantastic. They are is passionate and um
excited about what our team is and where we could
be headed that Uh they're not afraid to let everybody

(53:57):
know either, which is great. It's really cool. The game
they experience is totally different than it used to be.
I feel like it's a it's almost a college atmosphere.
A lot of that credit it's obviously the team and
the players. I think Elizabeth Blackburn's in an incredible job
with the branding and the marketing and their stand engagement. Um,
the social media team is really good, like they're engaged.
And I would say the fan base like I've gotten
to know something like this Bengals gym is all the

(54:19):
fans like he's great. Uh. This woman Whitney on Twitter,
This Lindsay Patterson, she follows a team like engaged, smart
And that's what happens with winning football and for a
hot bed of football like you guys have And couldn't
be happier for you personally, but couldn't be happier for
the team as well. Um, Brian, you're the men. I
appreciate it. Good luck from here on out. We're doing

(54:40):
this in week fourteen. Let's see how it goes from here.
But first you gotta beat your pops. Man. Yeah, like
I said, they've had our number, So we gotta work
cut out for us. And it's it's it's a big
divisional game and we gotta win one of these divisional
games here. We just got steeling the Steelers a couple
of weeks ago, and now we've got to get another
one year with Cleveland. So it's uh, it'll be a battle.
They always are. ANFC North get back to work and
thank you for joining us. Really appreciate your time. Thanks, Peter,

(55:02):
appreciate it. Man. Many thanks to Brian Callahan, the offensive
coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. You heard it from him.
They have a huge game against the Cleveland Browns. What
happens often as a team will get so hyped for
that big game against one team, and in this case
it's the Chiefs, and then maybe they have a hiccup
over the next week because they got so hyped that
they're kind of feeding off that are reading the headlines.
I get the feeling listening to Brian Callahan, he's Zach

(55:24):
Taylor and defensive coordinator Lewin and remote do not allow
that to happen, and that they will be focused in
and dialed in to beat the Shawn Watson and the Browns.
We flipped the page to week fourteen and there's there's
gonna be press conferences this week and they're gonna be
asking Tom Brady questions about Brock Purty, and that to
me is what's amazing. You know, obviously Purty story is

(55:46):
this this wild ride, but Brady has been through it,
before too Aaron Tampa survives another one. They're six and six,
they're kind of on fumes and yet their playoff team
right now, and they're going to San Francisco with the
first real week of Brock Purty Ball. And if I'm
Tampa Bay, I'm studying Purty's film from last week and
I'm getting a normal better might not be as easy

(56:07):
as it was against the Dolphins. Uh, that's the game
that got that has me hype this week? What do
you got? I have to say the one I'm most
excited for is what got flex in the Sunday night.
I want to see Dolphins Chargers to A has had
an amazing season and then kind of got shut down
by the forty niners. But I want to see him
bounce back. I want to see Waddle come back healthy.
I want to see them show up. And also there's

(56:29):
this long running narrative of Herbert to Uh That'sphins took
to it before Herbert. I'll tell you what, though, can
the Chargers win a game? You know what's like? They're
getting primetime love here and to look at their record,
and I'm a big brand and Staley fan for what
he's done defensively, and I'm I love Herbert, I love

(56:49):
that Clert, I love all of it. But like, I mean,
come on, you got the Raiders last week, You're up
tend nothing again. It's another crucible game. It feels like
for the Chargers, we've seen him in primetime year after
year after year. It feels like they lose a lot
of these games. And there's also the Jets Pills game.
I mean like there's there's a lot of good stuff
this weekend. And I know that they couldn't flex Bills

(57:11):
Jets into Sunday Night because Mike White, you know, it's
too busy working on White Lotus Sunday night, so he couldn't.
He couldn't do the Sunday Night. Not all caught up,
I'm fine, I got two more. I'm not either. I
got in trouble actually this morning for not being caught
up someone someone yeah, yeah, working on the NFL shows.
I know. My partner was like, I'm getting spoiled on
all these episodes. Episode are you up to? I'm five

(57:32):
in we're five to yeah, some some ending to the
fifth episode, yes, and we're hoping that we'll be all
caught up by Friday. Okay, I'll make a deal with you.
I will watch the sixth episode. We will go into
the finale together. Ready, but we gotta watch Dolphins Chargers
of course. Yeah. On behalf of my friend Aaron Jan Kaufman,
on behalf of Jason English, the maestro of the I

(57:53):
Heart Team, on behalf of the NFL Network, the NFL
Digital Team, on behalf of our music man, Jack Rudd.
I want to thank everybody for listening. Awesome week ahead.
Uh Brian Callahan fantastic. That's the off. It's a coordinator
of the Bengals. You now got to know him, and
when he's a head coach of your team, you'll say,
I remember when until next week? The Season with Peter Schreeger.

(58:30):
The Season with Peter Schreeger is a production of the
NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from my Heart Radio, is it the I Heart Radio app,
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