The Cincinnati Bengals today announced the hiring of four offensive assistants under new head coach Zac Taylor.
The new hires include Brian Callahan (offensive coordinator), Jim Turner (offensive line), James Casey (tight ends) and Ben Martin (assistant offensive line).
"As I said in my news conference (on Tuesday), I'm focusing first on putting together a staff that our entire team will be proud of — one our players will be excited to play for — and these four coaches will be a big part of that," Taylor said. "They are good teachers and good communicators who will think outside the box, and that's important for helping to develop the type of offense we plan to employ.
"We're continuing to assemble our new staff. We want to make sure we hire the right people, because it all starts at the top. As I said before, we're going to take our time to make sure that everyone is a perfect fit. There's still a lot of work to do, and I'm looking forward to announcing more of the staff as it comes together."
Here is a look at the four new Bengals assistants:
*** Callahan, 34, is entering his 10th season as an NFL coach. He comes to Cincinnati from the Oakland Raiders, where he served as quarterbacks coach in 2018. Previously, he was quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions from 2016-17. From 2010-15, he worked for the Denver Broncos, for whom he served as coaching assistant ('10), offensive quality control coach ('11-12), offensive assistant ('13-14) and offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach ('15).
Under Callahan's direction last season, Raiders QB Derek Carr recorded a career-high 4049 passing yards and a 93.9 passer rating, led the AFC and ranked fifth in the NFL in completion percentage (68.9), and ranked fourth in the AFC and sixth in the NFL in total completions (381).
Over Callahan's two years with Detroit (2016 and '17), Lions QB Matthew Stafford ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in TD passes (53), passing yards (8773) completions (759), completion percentage (65.5) and INT percentage (1.7). In 2017 alone, Stafford ranked third in the NFL and first in the NFC in passing yards (4446).
In Callahan's six years with Denver, the Broncos' offense ranked in the top five in the NFL in total yet yards three consecutive seasons (2012-14). The Broncos won five straight AFC West titles from 2011-15, appeared in Super Bowl XLVIII and won Super Bowl 50. In 2013, the Broncos' offense set NFL single-season records for points scored (606) and TDs (76), while QB Peyton Manning passed for an NFL-record 55 touchdowns and earned consensus MVP honors. Also in 2013, the Broncos had five players who scored 10 or more touchdowns, most in league history.
After playing quarterback at UCLA, Callahan began his coaching career at his alma mater, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2006-07. He played quarterback at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., and was part of the school's national-record 151-game win streak (1992-2004).
*** Turner, 54, comes to Cincinnati from Texas A&M University, where he spent the last three seasons (2016-18) as offensive line coach.
From 2012-13, Turner was offensive line coach of the Miami Dolphins. Turner and Taylor worked together on the Dolphins' coaching staff during that time. They also worked together from 2008-11 at Texas A&M, when Taylor was a graduate assistant and Turner was offensive line coach.
Turner has also been offensive line coach at Boston College (2007); assistant head coach ('06) and offensive line coach ('05-06) at the University of Delaware; offensive line coach at Temple University ('03-04); offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Harvard University ('00-02); offensive line coach at Louisiana Tech University (1999); and defensive line coach ('97-98), running backs coach ('96) and offensive line/tight ends coach ('94-95) at Northeastern University.
Turner, a 1988 graduate of Boston College, served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1990-94.
*** Casey, 34, spent the last three seasons (2016-18) on the coaching staff of the University of Houston. He began his coaching career as an offensive football analyst for the Cougars in 2016, then served as tight ends coach in '17 and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach in '18.
As a player, Casey was an All-American tight end at Rice University and fifth-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2009. He played four seasons with the Texans (2009-12), then two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles ('13-14) and one with the Denver Broncos ('15).
*** Martin, 35, spent the last three seasons in the college ranks, as offensive line coach at Brown University (2018) and offensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator at Union (N.Y.) College ('16-17). He has two years of NFL experience as an offensive assistant with the Miami Dolphins from 2014-15.
Martin worked on the Dolphins' staff with both Taylor and Turner. The three also worked together at Texas A&M from 2010-11, when Martin served as offensive quality control coach for the Aggies.
Prior to his time with the Dolphins, Martin was offensive line coach at Wagner College (2013), running backs coach at Princeton University ('12), offensive quality control coach at Texas A&M ('10-11), run game/recruiting coordinator at Merrimack College ('08-09), and offensive line/tight ends coach at Curry College ('07).
