Defensive Coordinator Search

[DanBengalfan]

well, he only has to move a few hours away...

 

[cincygrad]

well, he only has to move a few hours away...

Word is that his family never moved. They are still in Cincinnati from his first stint with the team.

 

[DanBengalfan]

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Al Golden it is. Damn good hire IMO.

Lots of criticism about how uninspiring this process was. And it was the typical Bengals MO of only talking to family friends and inner circle members.

It just so happened that inner circle member they zeroed in on from start is a good football coach.

What I like most about Golden is his ability to elevate and develop talent. Particularly LBs. Which god knows Pratt and Wilson need a swift kick in the ass after last year. I don’t believe Golden is the scheme wizard that Lou was, but if he can get anything out of the young talent on that side of the ball, the Bengals might have gotten a steal.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Al Golden it is. Damn good hire IMO.

Lots of criticism about how uninspiring this process was. And it was the typical Bengals MO of only talking to family friends and inner circle members.

It just so happened that inner circle member they zeroed in on from start is a good football coach.

What I like most about Golden is his ability to elevate and develop talent. Particularly LBs. Which god knows Pratt and Wilson need a swift kick in the ass after last year. I don’t believe Golden is the scheme wizard that Lou was, but if he can get anything out of the young talent on that side of the ball, the Bengals might have gotten a steal.

That only lasts so long until someone else thinks that job was really good and then hire him as their HC the year after.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Solid hire. Was on staff during the '21 run to the SB. Will bring some familiarity to the defense, but with his own spin on things.

I know some will look at the OSU game and draw conclusions - and that's dumb. ND had a really good defense all year long, and they did hold that offense down in the 2nd half - but the talent on OSU for offense to ND on defense was noticeable and vast - especially with injuries. OSU just went beast-mode in that playoff.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Solid hire. Was on staff during the '21 run to the SB. Will bring some familiarity to the defense, but with his own spin on things.

I know some will look at the OSU game and draw conclusions - and that's dumb. ND had a really good defense all year long, and they did hold that offense down in the 2nd half - but the talent on OSU for offense to ND on defense was noticeable and vast - especially with injuries. OSU just went beast-mode in that playoff.

I’ve seen the comment “this is the guy who gave up 1v1 to Jeremiah Smith in crunch time what an idiot” over and over again. Which is the dumbest possible take you can have about a coach. These folks likely watched one Notre Dame game all season. And have judged his entire candidacy on one moment in a game.

Yes. Al’s defense gave up 1 big play in a game to the best WR in the nation. Nevermind his defense overcame a bunch of injuries and was a driving force of getting them to the title game. Clearly he’s a football idiot and should never set foot on the sideline again.

 

[cincygrad]

I’ve seen the comment “this is the guy who gave up 1v1 to Jeremiah Smith in crunch time what an idiot” over and over again. Which is the dumbest possible take you can have about a coach. These folks likely watched one Notre Dame game all season. And have judged his entire candidacy on one moment in a game.

Yes. Al’s defense gave up 1 big play in a game to the best WR in the nation. Nevermind his defense overcame a bunch of injuries and was a driving force of getting them to the title game. Clearly he’s a football idiot and should never set foot on the sideline again.

This has been driving me crazy reading our fans on social media.... I hate OSU, but it's pretty clear that the only thing stopping that offense this year was self-inflicted. They had a crazy amount of talent and playmakers and enough of a line to give it time. And ND was not at full strength. Credit to Golden for trying to force the issue - It just didn't turn out the way he wanted.

This stuff also happens with coordinators in the NFL. People were criticizing Washington's hire of Dan Quinn because the Cowboys were blown out in the playoffs last year. That ignored his impressive body of work over the prior couple of seasons.

Sometimes you lose.

 

[Cincyfan78]

This has been driving me crazy reading our fans on social media.... I hate OSU, but it's pretty clear that the only thing stopping that offense this year was self-inflicted. They had a crazy amount of talent and playmakers and enough of a line to give it time. And ND was not at full strength. Credit to Golden for trying to force the issue - It just didn't turn out the way he wanted.

This stuff also happens with coordinators in the NFL. People were criticizing Washington's hire of Dan Quinn because the Cowboys were blown out in the playoffs last year. That ignored his impressive body of work over the prior couple of seasons.

Sometimes you lose.

People who use 1 data point to extrapolate their talking point/views are just not bright people. They are angry/unhappy with the hire for multiple reasons, and this is just the easiest, and quite frankly laziest, data point they can use.

 

[cincygrad]

Somewhat related point - I'm amused by the treatment of Ben Johnson by media and fans. If Zac Taylor failed on the same shit Johnson did the other night, we would never let him live it down. A receiver pass down 10 in the 4th? Passing it 15 yards down field on 4th and 1? Johnson gets away with it

 

[Cincyfan78]

Somewhat related point - I'm amused by the treatment of Ben Johnson by media and fans. If Zac Taylor failed on the same shit Johnson did the other night, we would never let him live it down. A receiver pass down 10 in the 4th? Passing it 15 yards down field on 4th and 1? Johnson gets away with it

I guess the question is: Is that his usual MO - because with Taylor - it's like clockwork. You can also set your clock to the post-game where he'll talk about probably not liking that play-call there, and looking to do something different next time...etc...etc...etc...and yet, once again - next situation - same thing.

It gets old hearing the laments, the talk about change, and then seeing the same thing over and over. As Marvin used to say - I see better than I hear...and I've already grown tired of listening to Taylor's talk about the offense and how he approaches it. If it weren't for Burrow being Burrow - he wouldn't have a job. If he had Andy Dalton instead, we'd be in year 2, or 3, of a new HC/OC play caller.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

I could easily see Ben Johnson being Adam Gase 2.0. Another full of himself “offensive wizard” that profited off having elite offensive talent to play around with as a play caller. Exposed as a fraud when expected to make it happen with his own team with his own guys.

I suspect this won’t be the case as Johnson appears to be very smart and well organized. But I do think it’s funny how the media and fans treat an OC who’s never been a HC like he’s Bill Walsh.

As for Zac. He’s been a HC for 6 years. The film is out there. And he has repeated the same mistakes year in and year out over and over again. He’s doesn’t remotely deserve the benefit of the doubt from anyone.

Hopefully Al Golden can recreate 2021’s opportunistic defense. Zac HAS to get this team back to the playoffs or he’s out of a job.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I could easily see Ben Johnson being Adam Gase 2.0. Another full of himself “offensive wizard” that profited off having elite offensive talent to play around with as a play caller. Exposed as a fraud when expected to make it happen with his own team with his own guys.

I suspect this won’t be the case as Johnson appears to be very smart and well organized. But I do think it’s funny how the media and fans treat an OC who’s never been a HC like he’s Bill Walsh.

As for Zac. He’s been a HC for 6 years. The film is out there. And he has repeated the same mistakes year in and year out over and over again. He’s doesn’t remotely deserve the benefit of the doubt from anyone.

Hopefully Al Golden can recreate 2021’s opportunistic defense. Zac HAS to get this team back to the playoffs or he’s out of a job.

If Zach doesn't start the year out with 1-2 wins right off the bat - this fanbase is going to revolt against him. He can no longer point to the early games as not being as important as the late games.

He is 1-11 in weeks 1-2. The 1 win was a fluke fumble by a really good RB - that allowed them to kick the GW FG against the Vikings. If not for that, he would be 0-12. I get you want to be playing your best ball late. I get you need to manage your guys to last through a long season - but you simply cannot plan on punting on nearly 25% of the season, and hope that you win enough in the final 12 games to get to 10-11 wins, or more. The margin for error becomes way too thin. It's worked, and he's gotten lucky - but it's only emboldened his approach. Having it really hurt them this year, hopefully, makes it sink in.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I could easily see Ben Johnson being Adam Gase 2.0. Another full of himself “offensive wizard” that profited off having elite offensive talent to play around with as a play caller. Exposed as a fraud when expected to make it happen with his own team with his own guys.

I suspect this won’t be the case as Johnson appears to be very smart and well organized. But I do think it’s funny how the media and fans treat an OC who’s never been a HC like he’s Bill Walsh.

As for Zac. He’s been a HC for 6 years. The film is out there. And he has repeated the same mistakes year in and year out over and over again. He’s doesn’t remotely deserve the benefit of the doubt from anyone.

Hopefully Al Golden can recreate 2021’s opportunistic defense. Zac HAS to get this team back to the playoffs or he’s out of a job.

I know this is the defense thread - but since we mentioned Taylor - some tidbits I came across:

Burrow was under center the 3rd fewest of any QB in the NFL. When the Bengals were in that formation with Burrow under center, they ran the ball almost 80% of the time. It was by far the least successful approach for the offense. The offense only averaged 3.4 yards per pass play. So, even when they did pass it - it wasn't very good. Brown also struggled at RB when in this formation as he was 36th in EPA where he got just 3.6 yards per carry and only broke a run of 10+ yards or more on 8.1% of his runs.

Contrast that with the shotgun approach:

Bengals passing had 5th HIGHEST EPA/pass in the NFL, and yards per play went up to 6.7. Brown also saw an increase in his runs as he went up to 4.7YPC and ripped a run of 10+ yards on 12% of his runs.

Now - I'm going to point out that some of the under center was clearly 3rd/1 and 4th/1 type runs, or goal-line which can skew things. But 80% of the plays are runs...which falls right in line with Taylor who simply cannot run multiple plays out of similar/same formations to keep defenses honest. If they are going to use Burrow under center more, they must pass more, and use the play-action way more.

Conversely - with the Shotgun - they pass WAY more - and would explain at least why Chase has a better overall stat line because the defense is expecting a pass. Again - Taylor cannot be varied with his run/pass approach when in shotgun/under center formations. They type of play call (run/pass) is so heavily skewed it allows defense to hone in one way or the other.

Taylors biggest issues in play-calling are scheme related more than anything. You have to have more balance. I've been big on seeing more actual runs, though I realize the offense will always run through Joe - you can't have it where you are up 10+ and still throwing the ball - or simply lining up under center and allowing defense to essentially not worry about 50% of the offensive playbook that might be used/called.

The Bengals need to better hone their talent on OL to do whatever approach Burrow wants, but regardless of the approach, more Shotgun, more under-center (with playaction and more passing) - Taylor HAS to start balancing his formations with the expected play-calls. You simply cannot line up under center and run the ball 80% - that sets the offense up for failure. Same in shotgun. If not for Burrow being Burrow - that shotgun information would likely look a lot more like the under center production than it does...thankfully, Burrow is a Warlock back there - and to date - he has saved Taylor's job and made him look far better as an offensive guy than he really is.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I could easily see Ben Johnson being Adam Gase 2.0. Another full of himself “offensive wizard” that profited off having elite offensive talent to play around with as a play caller. Exposed as a fraud when expected to make it happen with his own team with his own guys.

I suspect this won’t be the case as Johnson appears to be very smart and well organized. But I do think it’s funny how the media and fans treat an OC who’s never been a HC like he’s Bill Walsh.

As for Zac. He’s been a HC for 6 years. The film is out there. And he has repeated the same mistakes year in and year out over and over again. He’s doesn’t remotely deserve the benefit of the doubt from anyone.

Hopefully Al Golden can recreate 2021’s opportunistic defense. Zac HAS to get this team back to the playoffs or he’s out of a job.

You do realize who his owner is, right? Marvin Lewis, no playoff victories in 16 years. ZERO!

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Good hire