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          Cincinnati Bengals OC Brian Callahan: 'Focus is 100%' on playoff game, not interview with Broncos

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterJan 19, 2022, 06:00 PM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said balancing the prep work for Saturday's playoff game against the Tennessee Titans and his upcoming interview for the Denver Broncos' coaching vacancy is really easy.

          "My focus is 100% on this game and to our players," Callahan said. "There's no other focus for me."

          According to a report from Sports Illustrated, Callahan is expected to interview with the Broncos on Thursday, two days before the Bengals face the Titans in the AFC divisional round. If Cincinnati wins, the Bengals will play for a conference championship game for the first time since 1988.

          Callahan said that outside of the team's preparation for Saturday's road game against the Titans, any preparation for his interview with Denver comes on his personal time.

          "It's later at night, early in the morning, if I need to prepare for something," Callahan said. "And these are things that you slowly prepare for over time and you get a chance to collect your thoughts on your time."

          Callahan was with the Broncos from 2010 to 2015. He started out as a coaching assistant and worked his way up to being the team's quarterbacks coach when Denver won the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning at the end of the 2015 season.

          Before this season's Bengals game against Denver in December, Callahan reflected fondly on his time with the Broncos.

          "Denver is a special place for me because that was my first job; when I was 25 years old I got hired in Denver," Callahan said. "I more or less advanced in the profession there. I met my wife there and my daughter was born there and we won a Super Bowl there.

          "Then when I left, I left for a promotion, so there are a lot of good feelings I have about Denver."

          The son of current Browns assistant Bill Callahan said that his interview process with the Broncos is akin to a Most Valuable Player award or a Rookie of the Year award.

          "You get individual benefits from the collective success," Callahan said. "That's certainly where I'm at right now. It's an honor to be included in a process like that. But I would never take anything away from my preparation for a game of this magnitude."