The Cincinnati Bengals have no plans to change their coaching staff, but their opponent in the state has made the opposite move.
Earlier this week, the Cleveland Browns sacked three offensive assistant coaches, including Alex Van Pelt, the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for four years.
The Bengals still remember how Van Pelt initially arrived, even if he is no longer with them.
In 2018, Van Pelt accepted the same position with the Bengals after a fruitful tenure as Aaron Rodgers’ quarterback coach with the Green Bay Packers. Then, as one of the holdovers from Marvin Lewis’s tenure, he continued to work with Zac Taylor’s team in 2019.
Although the Bengals organisation held Van Pelt in high regard, they were powerless to stop him from moving forward.
Just before the Bengals were about to start over at quarterback with Joe Burrow in the 2020 summer, Van Pelt received a promotion offer from the Browns, and he accepted it. It is against NFL rules for clubs to refuse promotions to assistants who intend to take offers from other teams. It counts to go from being a QB coach to an OC and QB coach.
Fortunately for Cincinnati, there was an obvious substitute already in the building. After serving as Van Pelt’s assistant with the quarterbacks while working as a receivers coach, Dan Pitcher was elevated to the job of quarterback coach in 2020 and has been there ever since.
