When Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell went out for a walk ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft in his neighborhood, he passed Bengals owner Mike Brown who was also out for some exercise.
Days before the Bengals selected quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick, Brown asked Fickell what he knew about Burrow from his time coaching him at Ohio State.
Burrow and Fickell overlapped in Columbus for two seasons in 2015-16 before Fickell accepted the head coaching job at Cincinnati. Burrow was the scout team quarterback, Fickell was the defensive coordinator so the two got to know one another well.