Anarumo fired

[futballiscool]

Bengals fire DC Lou Anarumo

The Bengals failed to make the playoffs despite having one of the league's most potent offenses, so they'll find someone new to run their defense next season.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[Cincyfan78]

Bengals fire DC Lou Anarumo

The Bengals failed to make the playoffs despite having one of the league's most potent offenses, so they'll find someone new to run their defense next season.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[Cincyfan78]

Frank Pollack, DL coach, and LB coach all fired as well...not a shock on the defensive side since Lou got fired and a new guy will want his own guys...

Pollack never gelled with the wide-open offense that Burrow prefers in terms of how the OL needs to block.

 

[futballiscool]

You have to make a move when you miss the playoffs with the top passer, receiver and pass rusher on your roster in the same season but Anarumo did some great things here.

His defenses held Josh Allen to the worst playoff performance of his career and completely shutdown a Chiefs offense in the AFCCG while Tyreek Hill was still on the roster

I doubt he's out of work long

 

[DanBengalfan]

Cincinnati Bengals Make Major Change to Coaching Staff

The Bengals missed the playoffs for a second-straight season.

www.si.com

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Wow. Now, can Zac actually get the team ready for football in the preseason and be ready to play football Game 1?

 

[DanBengalfan]

they still need to let go of Zac calling the plays. also, it would help if they could evaluate talent better. Yes, Zac Moss had some monster games in 2023 , no, that doesn't mean he's an all pro. he was not that good at blocking for Joe Burrow, that was a huge lie. we play in the AFC North, they can see running backs coming out of the backfield, they can put your all pro QB on his butt. every divsion game is a playoff game.

 

[cincygrad]

I think Lou did a lot of good here. But his best seasons were fueled by guys that we did not draft. I get that some of our fans want to blame the front office for drafting and development, but given the way the Bengals work as an organization, I have to believe had more of a say in who they selected than a lot of dcs do across the league. To me, he'd be a good DC for an established team that might lose their DC to a head coaching job. If he is given a veteran cast, particularly at DB, he can do some solid work.

As for Frank - This is a move that should have been made 2 seasons ago. Or at least last season. It's never been a fit with the offense that we run and I also question his role in the players that we have acquired.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think Lou did a lot of good here. But his best seasons were fueled by guys that we did not draft. I get that some of our fans want to blame the front office for drafting and development, but given the way the Bengals work as an organization, I have to believe had more of a say in who they selected than a lot of dcs do across the league. To me, he'd be a good DC for an established team that might lose their DC to a head coaching job. If he is given a veteran cast, particularly at DB, he can do some solid work.

As for Frank - This is a move that should have been made 2 seasons ago. Or at least last season. It's never been a fit with the offense that we run and I also question his role in the players that we have acquired.

His best seasons were also fueled by turnovers - a lot of them, and especially in the RZ...which is something you simply cannot scheme/plan. They also got enough push from their front 4 that the drop 7 man/zone mix worked well. Once they lacked pressure, Lou lacked the ability to adjust, and those blitzes he did bring didn't look well designed (IMO).

I also think the DB's are talented - but they were often out of place. Even veteran guys that had been around like Pratt and Bell looked out of place often in a scheme they knew very well. Lou's scheme was often called "overly complicated". While you don't want to be so basic that teams can read plays, you also need to understand that as your draft and replace guys - you have to adjust - against, that did not seem to be a strong suit of Lou.

Agreed on Frank. If you are going to run the majority of your plays from the shotgun, then you need an OL coach who knows how to scheme/block for that - and even run block out of that. It never seemed to really be a fit.

I think a big issue for this coaching staff was the refusal to adjust early on. Bell looked old. Hubbard was hurt and looked old. Volson looked terrible. Pratt was clearly slow in coverage. The front 4 was not getting home enough for a young secondary that too often left them exposed. I'm not saying you shouldn't give guys rope, but by game 4 and 5 it's no longer "early"...when you start out 1-3 ... things need to be taken to a higher urgency - and I think that Taylor on down really try to keep that urgency to a minimum, which can be good in some cases, but for a SB team looking to contend - and FINALLY a healthy Burrow...there simply wasn't enough urgency. They sure talked about it, because Taylor loves to talk - but the results on the field did not back those words up.

Now that one side of the ball has been cleaned, there is zero doubt that Taylor will be on the hot-seat entering 2025...no more excuses - he needs to win, and that starts right up front with games 1-4. If they come out flat again - the pressure is going to be on ownership to figure it out.

 

[DanBengalfan]

our OL needs to be built to suit our offense.

right now, Joe B is going back and going through his reads, and realizes no one is open, so he goes through his reads again, 3-4 seconds later, and of course by this time the protection is breaking down.

so 2 things need to happen... if we are going to be a passing team that allows Joe B all day to throw, then we need to pay our OL around 10 million a piece, we need a wall bigger than what Trump would build, lol.

 

[futballiscool]

It's strange. With the Bengals offensive personnel the obvious move seems to be to go all in with a big time OC as the next HC if the team falters again but Burrow is such a unique talent that I'd love to let him run the offense and get a big time DC as Head Coach. Sort of a modern day Brady/Belichick or Manning/Dungy.
If you give Brian Flores a couple seasons to implement his schemes and pick his own personnel this can be a SB team quick.

 

[Cincyfan78]

It's strange. With the Bengals offensive personnel the obvious move seems to be to go all in with a big time OC as the next HC if the team falters again but Burrow is such a unique talent that I'd love to let him run the offense and get a big time DC as Head Coach. Sort of a modern day Brady/Belichick or Manning/Dungy.
If you give Brian Flores a couple seasons to implement his schemes and pick his own personnel this can be a SB team quick.

Don't think you can give someone "a couple of seasons". That means...2028? No dice.

I'm also leery of Flores - dude was not a great relationship guy in Mia - and as a DC he's great, but I don't think I'd want him as a HC, but that's just me.

Either way you go - it can be a HC with heavy offensive background, or a DC as a HC who is going to have to hire a very strong OC because that is not their background...

But - regardless, if they move on from Taylor after 2025, it's going to be someone that can come in and immediately get to where the Bengals need to go...there isn't going to be a "waiting" period.

 

[futballiscool]

Don't think you can give someone "a couple of seasons". That means...2028? No dice.

I'm also leery of Flores - dude was not a great relationship guy in Mia - and as a DC he's great, but I don't think I'd want him as a HC, but that's just me.

Either way you go - it can be a HC with heavy offensive background, or a DC as a HC who is going to have to hire a very strong OC because that is not their background...

But - regardless, if they move on from Taylor after 2025, it's going to be someone that can come in and immediately get to where the Bengals need to go...there isn't going to be a "waiting" period.

The team's missed the playoffs back to back seasons
It's an unfair ultimatum to hire any coach under the premise that it's SB or bust their first season. Do I think this team can be a SB contender with a good draft, hiring cycle and off-season? Of course but that can't be the expectation.

With Flores he held a McVay/Goff offense to 3 pts in a SB in a dome and turned Miami and Minnesota into top tier defenses in 2 seasons. If he repeats that in Cincinnati that's a formula for sustained success

Belichick also had a notoriously bad reputation for relationships in his first coaching stint in Cleveland. Defensive Guru plus offensive savant at QB is a good formula

 

[Cincyfan78]

The team's missed the playoffs back to back seasons
It's an unfair ultimatum to hire any coach under the premise that it's SB or bust their first season. Do I think this team can be a SB contender with a good draft, hiring cycle and off-season? Of course but that can't be the expectation.

With Flores he held a McVay/Goff offense to 3 pts in a SB in a dome and turned Miami and Minnesota into top tier defenses in 2 seasons. If he repeats that in Cincinnati that's a formula for sustained success

Belichick also had a notoriously bad reputation for relationships in his first coaching stint in Cleveland. Defensive Guru plus offensive savant at QB is a good formula

Burrow missed like 11 games last year...do you think that 9 win team makes the playoffs with a healthy Burrow in weeks 1-4 (Calf) or in that Ravens game he got hurt, they win?

You have Burrow and Chase on offense...there is absolutely an expectation to win - any other approach closes the window just that much more with each year.

Belichick took over an awful NE team and landed Brady and went from there. No surprise that Brady left and suddenly Bill looked ordinary again. The same would happen to Taylor if Burrow left, though I do give credit to last years' team with Browning in at QB.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Also - only 4 other teams since 1990 have had back to back winning seasons and not make the playoffs...so yes, 1st year of a new coach would absolutely have a very high expectation...because if they miss the playoffs for a 3rd straight year, it likely wouldn't be with a winning record - and that would only be the 1st losing under Burrow...so, a lot of nuance here.

 

[futballiscool]

Burrow missed like 11 games last year...do you think that 9 win team makes the playoffs with a healthy Burrow in weeks 1-4 (Calf) or in that Ravens game he got hurt, they win?

You have Burrow and Chase on offense...there is absolutely an expectation to win - any other approach closes the window just that much more with each year.

Belichick took over an awful NE team and landed Brady and went from there. No surprise that Brady left and suddenly Bill looked ordinary again. The same would happen to Taylor if Burrow left, though I do give credit to last years' team with Browning in at QB.

Also - only 4 other teams since 1990 have had back to back winning seasons and not make the playoffs...so yes, 1st year of a new coach would absolutely have a very high expectation...because if they miss the playoffs for a 3rd straight year, it likely wouldn't be with a winning record - and that would only be the 1st losing under Burrow...so, a lot of nuance here.

I think the Brady/Belichick dynamic is more complicated than people remember.

They went 11-5 with Matt Cassell at QB during 2008 and 3-1 with Jimmy G and a rookie Brissett during the middle of their dynasty run. That's a large sample size.

As far as making the playoffs with a new coach in his first session that's a much lower bar to clear than the SB

 

[futballiscool]

TLDR. Basically when I was thinking of DC candidates I realized Burrow is a modern day Peyton Manning and the need a defensive Guru to run that side of the ball.

 

[Cincyfan78]

TLDR. Basically when I was thinking of DC candidates I realized Burrow is a modern day Peyton Manning and the need a defensive Guru to run that side of the ball.

Basically -

Hire Robert Saleh as HC and hire Joe Brady as OC to let him and Burrow simply run that offense without interference like it was back at LSU with Burrow/Chase.

I'm on board.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Basically -

Hire Robert Saleh as HC and hire Joe Brady as OC to let him and Burrow simply run that offense without interference like it was back at LSU with Burrow/Chase.

I'm on board.

I want Chase Brown touching the ball 25 times a game between runs and catches. I am not 100% sold on Brady being an offensive coordinator in the NFL. Maybe Paintin' Manning would like to come to Cincinnati and become our OC to begin his coaching career, hahaha.

 

[cincygrad]

I think Flores would be good with an established quarterback - Particularly one that is self-motivated and holds himself to the standard that Burrow holds himself to. My understanding with Flores is that he had difficulties with Tua. Burrow is a different sort.