Bengals considering Jim McNally as replacement for Paul Alexander

The Cincinnati Bengals may be zeroing in on their next offensive line coach.

According to Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson, Jim McNally is being considered for the position left vacated by Paul Alexander.

Indications are the Bengals are talking to both college and NFL offensive line coaches, and one of the options is to bring back consultant Jim McNally to help out on the field. McNally, 74, coached one of the NFL’s greatest lines in history during his stint from 1980-94, when he was Hall of Fame left tackle Anthony Munoz’s only position coach and the Bengals led the NFL in rushing three times in the late 1980s.

This is the second time in as many weeks that Hobson has mentioned McNally as someone the Bengals were considering as a replacement for Alexander, who Cincinnati parted ways with this offseason.

McNally, who coached on the Bengals’ two Super Bowl teams in the 80s, was the team’s offensive line coach from 1980-1994. He has been with the Bengals since 2012 as a team consultant.

McNally previously coached the offensive lines for the Buffalo Bills (2004-07), New York Giants (1999-2003) and Carolina Panthers (1995-98. He was also a team consultant for the New York Jets from 2010-11.

There’s no question McNally has a very extensive background as an offensive line coach, but the NFL is so different today compared to when McNally was coaching. You have to wonder if his old-school approach would work today, not to mention he was a consultant for an offensive line that was among the worst in football this past season.

It really feels like the Bengals need to find an outside candidate to revamp this offensive line and get it back to being a strength for this team, not a weakness.

*Note: This is not the same Jim McNally who was once involved with the Patriots’ DeflateGate scandal. These are two different Jim McNallys, which isn’t confusing at all.