For the past week we've acknowledged that while Mike Zimmer could depart Cincinnati for a vacant head coaching position, it all depended on where Jeff Fisher decided to resume his coaching career. Multiple reports are now indicating that Fisher has chosen the St. Louis Rams, which means we're inching that much closer towards discovering Mike Zimmer's future with Cincinnati.
Zimmer interviewed for Miami's vacant head coaching position earlier this week while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently received permission to interview Cincinnati's defensive coordinator. If Zimmer leaves Cincinnati then the Bengals will have to start a shotgun search to find his replacement, with names like defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle and former Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio believed as possibilities.
Before Zimmer joined the Bengals in 2008, Cincinnati's defense ranked 19th or worse (four times 27th or worse) every season that Marvin Lewis was the head coach. Zimmer joined the team and Cincinnati's defense never finished worse than 15th with two seasons ranked seventh or better.