Zac Taylor needs to get this one right.
The heart and soul of any good football team is its offensive line. There is no position that requires more discipline or technique than offensive lineman. Success as an offensive football team depends on the ability of the offensive line to control the line of scrimmage.
Good offensive lines don’t just happen. They are made, and it takes a good offensive line coach to put them together in a way that makes the most of all the available talent.
The Cincinnati Bengals should know. You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find the last time a Bengals’ offensive line finished ranked in the top 10. The offensive line coach at that time was Paul Alexander, who is widely considered one of the franchise’s best ever. Alexander spent 24 years in Cincinnati (his final season was 2017) as part of a 36-year career.
It’s hard to replace a legend, and the Bengals have not had much luck at finding a suitable successor. Their latest effort, Frank Pollack, was fired recently after spending five years at the controls. His latest unit finished as the 30th-ranked unit in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
Cincinnati has got to do better, and it all starts at the top. There are at least a few available offensive line coaches who can help the Bengals get to where they need to be.
Heading that list is probably former Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone. Marrone, who played offensive tackle in the NFL for six years, has seven years of experience as an offensive line coach in college and another 12 years in the pro ranks
Dan Roushar is another name that should be under consideration. Roushar, who is currently the offensive line coach at Tulane University, was not too long ago considered as one of the top offensive line coaches in the NFL. Roushar coached the position for the New Orleans Saints from 2016 through 2020 and has an additional 12 years of collegiate experience.
Another name to keep an eye on is former Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive line coach James Cregg. Cregg broke into the league as an assistant offensive line coach for the Raiders in 2007 and finally got the head position this past season. Although his line finished at No. 26, it overcame multiple injuries to finish strong. After allowing 19 sacks through the first nine games, the line let up just nine in the final eight games.
There is a long list of college coaches who deserve consideration, with names such as Joe Rudolph of Notre Dame, Nic Cardwell of Cincinnati, and Utah’s Jim Harding leading the way.
One thing is for sure: Whoever the Bengals end up with is going to have his work cut out for him.
