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It’s looking more and more likely that the Bengals will be the last team to hire their new head coach for the 2019 season. The longer they wait, the longer their candidates have to look for other work.
Vance Joseph has been considered a serious candidate for Cincinnati, but he’s been recently linked to other opportunities around the league. Today, he’s in Arizona interviewing to become the Cardinals defensive coordinator, per Ian Rapoport:
Former #Broncos head coach Vance Joseph is in Arizona today interviewing with new #AZCardinals coach Kliff Kinsbury for the defensive coordinator position, source said. Given that he’s there first, he’s a strong candidate. He’s still in the mix for the #Bengals HC job.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2019
Just yesterday, Joseph’s name was linked to the Jets’ defensive coordinator position after the team announced Adam Gase as their head coach. Joseph seems to be in the running for that job along with fellow former defensive coordinators Gregg Williams and Chuck Pagano.
One strong possibility as defensive coordinator for new #Jets coach Adam Gase is Vance Joseph. Joseph is still in the mix with the #Bengals, but he could land in NYJ if Cincy doesn’t work. Gase and Joseph where together in Miami.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2019
My understanding is Williams, ex-Broncos coach Vance Joseph and ex-Colts coach Chuck Pagano are the 3 in the mix to be Jets coach Adam Gase's DC. https://t.co/J1c94t5aNw
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 10, 2019
The Bengals also interviewed former Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Todd Monken for their head coaching opening, and he’s now in play for the Jaguars and Browns’ offensive coordinator openings.
After impressing the #Jets in head-coach interviews, former #Bucs OC Todd Monken will interview with the #Browns for their vacant OC job this weekend, source said. He also spoke with #Jaguars about their vacant OC job.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2019
Monken interviewed for the Jets’ head coaching job before they hired Gase and seems to be destined to try again as an offensive coordinator again, and probably not in Cincinnati.
As for Joseph, he only interviewed with the Bengals for a head coaching opening, and as six of those openings have closed, the Bengals are the only team where he has that opportunity. But there was some speculation that Joseph could still become the Bengals’ defensive coordinator. With legitimate interest from other teams, it’s far from a lock that this will come to fruition.
Also, if Joseph still has opportunities elsewhere and there’s nothing stopping the Bengals from hiring him right now, it’s unlikely that the team will hire him as their head coach. Until it doesn’t happen, it will be treated as a possibility; but at the moment, it’s declining in possibility.
A former Bengals’ assistant, Joseph isn’t technically an internal candidate for the Bengals’ job, but his association with Marvin Lewis pretty much groups him with the three internal candidates the team interviewed. Considering the Bengals are reportedly starting to purge their staff, bringing in a former coach seems counterintuitive.