The Cincinnati Bengals once again are staying pat and hoping continuity wins out rather than it becoming stale. Owner Mike Brown confirmed head coach Zac Taylor and Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin would be returning for next season.
Zac Taylor then confirmed in a pressure conference that he plans to retain defensive coordinator Al Golden and the rest of his staff.
“I see them every day and know what they’re capable of. Don’t ever wanna lose any of them, because I think we have a really, really, really strong coaching staff,” said Taylor when asked if any coaching moves were planned.
Golden and the defensive coaches are really the ones who were on any sort of hot seat. The Bengals essentially banked mostly on Golden to get the young, disappointing players who couldn’t get on the field in 2024 up and running with what was supposed to be a simpler system.
That move yielded, in most cases, results similar to or worse than those in 2024 when Lou Anarumo was let go following the season. The lack of talent, tackling consistency, and young players failing to live up to NFL standards plagued the season. We still saw the team lose several games where they scored over 30 points, which was an issue last season as well.
To Golden’s credit, the defense finished strong, but they also played several backup-caliber quarterbacks and struggling offenses over that period. The Bengals’ offense also had plenty of fumbles and interceptions returned directly for scores, which can skew certain metrics.
You still have to wonder how long the leash is for Golden. You have to imagine we see Cincinnati make several moves to help the defense again, which may include committing their fourth first-round pick to that side of the ball since 2022.
Safe to say if the defense doesn’t pick things up, more coaches than Golden will be looking for new jobs from this staff.
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