The Jacksonville Jaguars announced last weekend that Bengals wide receivers coach Mike Sheppard would be the team's new quarterbacks coach. Sheppard has been the team's wide receivers coach since 2007, after stints as an offensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints, the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers. That left Cincinnati needing a new wide receivers coach; ideally someone that knows enough of the west coast offense that Jay Gruden is looking to implement.
That search is now over.
On Monday, the team announced that Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach James Urban will be the Bengals new wide receivers coach. Urban, with Philadelphia since 2004, was the Eagle's quarterbacks coach for the previous two seasons before being promoted as the team's assistant offensive coordinator in 2011. Being an assistant under Andy Reid, Urban likely comes to Cincinnati with plenty of experience with the West Coast offense.
There will also be the connection to Kevin Kolb, who Urban coached as the quarterbacks coach from 2009-2010. Kolb is one of several alternatives from Bengals fans if Carson Palmer ends up retiring. But the cost might be too high. The National Football Post's Dan Pompei wrote that the Eagles want at least a first and something else, believed to be a third.