Bengals announce hiring of Lou Anarumo

The Bengals have announced the hiring of Lou Anarumo as defensive coordinator.

Anarumo, 52, comes to Cincinnati from the Giants, where he served as defensive backs coach in 2018. Prior to joining the Giants last season, he was defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2012-17.

“I’ve always had great respect for Lou, and I know he is a tremendous defensive coach,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “He’s a great fit for what we want to build here at Cincinnati. Lou is an excellent communicator who the players will have great respect for, and he will get the best out of them.”

During his stretch with Miami, Anarumo also served as the Dolphins’ interim defensive coordinator for the season’s final 12 games of 2015, after the team had made in-season staff changes.

Prior to his stint with the Dolphins, Anarumo was a college coach for 20 seasons from 1992-2011. He began his coaching career as defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1992-94), then later was assistant head coach at Harvard University (’95-2000), and defensive backs coach at both Marshall University (’01-03) and Purdue University (’04-11).

A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Anarumo earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Wagner College in 1990. His last name is pronounced “ann-ah-ROO-mo.”