CINCINNATI — The new Bengals coaching staff is coming together under Zac Taylor.
The team announced the hiring of four offensive assistants Thursday under the new head coach, including offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Jim Turner (offensive line), James Casey (tight ends) and Ben Martin (assistance offensive line).
The announcement of the hires came just two days afterTaylor's introductory news conference, where he said he was looking to fill his staff with great teachers, clear communicators and out-of-the-box thinkers.
"As I said in my news conference, 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 in a news release Thursday.
Callahan is entering his 10th season as an NFL coach. He was most recently a quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders. Under his direction, Raiders QB Derek Carr recorded a career-high 4049 passing yards and a 93.9 passer rating this past season. He led the AFC in with a 68.9 completion percentage.
Turner has spent the past three seasons as offensive line coach at Texas A&M University. He also has NFL experience, having worked with Taylor as an offensive line coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2012-13. He also worked with Taylor at Texas A&M from 2008-11.
Casey comes to Cincinnati from the University of Houston, where he began his coaching career in 2016 as an offensive analyst. He then worked as a tight ends coach the next year and a special teams coordinator/tight ends coach last year.
Martin also worked for the Dolphins and Texas A&M with Taylor and Turner. He was most recently offensive line coach at Bryant University.
Taylor said the team is continuing to assemble the new staff.
"We want to make sure we hire the right people, because it all starts at the top," he said. "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."
