Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher | Icon Sportswire/GettyImages

The Cleveland Browns have reportedly submitted their first five interview requests of the 2026 NFL hiring cycle, and the latest is sure to capture fans’ attention (in the worst way).

ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reported Wednesday that, in addition to the Browns interviewing their own current coordinators, Tommy Rees and Jim Schwartz, they’ve also submitted a request to the Cincinnati Bengals to speak with offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher for their head coach opening.

Browns fans may not be super familiar with Pitcher, who’s about to turn 39 and has been the Bengals OC for the past two seasons. Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor holds the playsheet on the sideline and calls the Bengals’ offense, so Pitcher is one of the league’s many coordinators who are more unknown to casual fans, working behind the scenes.

Fans will obviously react accordingly, though. There have been some nightmare head coach hires with no prior play calling experience across the league in the not-so-distant past, such as Nathaniel Hackett, Jerod Mayo, and Joe Judge. The Browns also have a lot of development and roster work to do on the offensive side of the ball, which could be a daunting task for a young coach with only two years of coordinator experience at any level.

Adding to the angst of Browns fans with Pitcher? He worked under general manager Andrew Berry with the Indianapolis Colts as a scout from 2014-15, and could soon become a more serious candidate than folks care to realize.

Dan Pitcher’s connection to Browns’ front office make him a legitimate HC contender

Pitcher offers a unique profile, with experience both in player operations and coaching. He broke into the NFL in 2012 as a scouting assistant with the Colts, and wound up spending four years with Berry in Indy.

He transitioned into coaching as an offensive assistant in 2016, before getting promoted to QBs coach in 2020 — the same year the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall. Cincinnati’s had strong success under center ever since, from Burrow, to most recently Jake Browning and Joe Flacco.

I wouldn’t sleep on Pitcher as a candidate. He has some fans in Cleveland. https://t.co/umBlj4U3vN

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 7, 2026

The Flacco connection between Cleveland and Cincinnati adds another interesting layer to Pitcher’s candidacy, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported this week that Browns leadership felt it was a bad look on ousted coach Kevin Stefanski that Flacco improved on the field, after the Browns traded him to the Bengals after Burrow’s toe injury in early October.

There will undoubtedly be interview announcements that Browns fans can gloss over and never gain any real traction. When you start connecting the dots here, Pitcher is not one of those candidates.

He’s the exact kind of off-the-radar coordinator that could lead to Browns fans losing sleep over the next couple of weeks.