+ The world's axis is flipping. Cats and dogs are living together. MTV is playing music videos. Time Warner cable offers the NFL Network. And other NFL teams want Cincinnati's coaching staff. From teams treating Mike Zimmer to interviews for a well-deserved promotion as a head coach, to Kevin Coyle leaving for the Miami Dolphins as the team's defensive coordinator, the Cincinnati Bengals are offering one thing to the NFL that we haven't seen for a while. Coaches.
Though Cincinnati coaches have often found a home with other teams after leaving the Bengals, this year was different. The key being that teams went after coaches still on Cincinnati's coaching staff this year whereas in the past those coaches were already let go (fired or didn't have their contracts renewed).
Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer nearly found a head coaching gig -- if not for an honest personality that scared hypocritical owners from having their plan dissected and insulted. Zimmer knows what he wants. Owners do too. The difference is that Zimmer has been a colonel on the front lines during battle whereas the owners sit on their cushy seats, dictating what they want achieved, generally encapsulated within such a thick bubble that the means of battle isn't as critical as achieving one's mandate -- though that mandate is never realized if the battles aren't won.
After refusing the Philadelphia Eagles permission to speak with defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle last year, the Bengals relented this year, allowing Coyle to interview with the Miami Dolphins. Soon after the Dolphins announced that Coyle will become the team's newest defensive coordinator. Cincinnati decided not to renew the contract for linebackers coach Jeff Fitzgerald, who found a home as the linebackers coach with the Indianapolis Colts.
This week the Bengals finally announced their coaching staff for 2012 by filling coaching vacancies at linebackers and defensive backs. First they hired former Pro Bowl defensive back Mark Carrier to coach the team's secondary, surprising many who thought Rod Woodson was in position for the job. However Carrier wasn't the first choice with reports surfacing that former Miami Dolphins intern head coach Todd Bowles already refused the job -- a coach that we speculated that the Bengals wanted when Coyle was being courted by the Dolphins.
Additionally the Bengals promoted Paul Guenther, a former assistant defensive backs coach and assistant special teams coach, as the linebackers coach. Guenther, another Marvin Lewis connection from his days with the Washington Redskins, joined Cincinnati in 2005 but served as an assistant linebackers coach from 2006-2010 before shifting to the team's secondary last season.
Ironically the role of assistant defensive backs coach and assistant special teams coach wasn't dissolved. On Friday the Bengals announced that Hue Jackson agreed to join the team in that capacity, which is ironic considering that Jackson has mostly coached on the offensive side of the ball throughout his NFL career. However Jackson does have experience on special teams, having been an assistant coach with the London Monarchs, Cal State Fullerton and Pacific.
Hue Jackson: The 007 Of The Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have their coaching staff set for the 2012 season, which generated some intrigue (Carrier and Jackson) and uncertainty in terms of what he'll bring to the position (Guenther). Either way you have to believe that the Bengals are better off today than they were a month ago when the coaching carousel began. And while we hate to see our better coaches leave for promotions, there's something that can be drawn from that: Other teams want our coaches, which means we're doing something right.
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