Bengals hire Frank Pollack back as OL coach

After a two-year separation, the Cincinnati Bengals today have announced they’ve hired back Frank Pollack as the team’s offensive line coach. Pollack will also have the official title of run game coordinator.

Pollack, who has coached NFL offensive lines since 2007, was most recently the OL coach for the New York Jets. He held that position from 2019-2020 and was not retained after Jets head coach Adam Gase was fired.

Pollack spent the 2018 season as the Bengals’ OL coach as the replacement for long-time coach Paul Alexander. Relative to the low-end talent on their roster, the Bengals’ offensive line managed to produce decent results under Pollack that season. They were 18th in Expected Points Added per rush and running back Joe Mixon had his highest yards per carry in his now four years with the team. Their team-wide 4.7 yards per carry was the most since 1989.

When Marvin Lewis was fired and Zac Taylor hired after the season, Pollack surprisingly was not retained. Jim Turner was hired by Taylor to replace him, but the offensive line only regressed under Turner. They’ve been near the bottom of the league in EPA/rush and PFF’s Pass Blocking Efficiency since Turner was hired in 2019. Two years later now, Turner and the team have mutually parted ways and Pollack is back in town.

“Frank will help us make great strides in the run game and protections,” Taylor said to Bengals.com. “He brings great technical skills in player development and his familiarity with some of our current offensive linemen will allow him to get to work right away. We interviewed several strong candidates to get the best outcome for our team. I am excited about the experience Frank brings to our offense.”

Pollack has been one of the top offensive line coaches since he helped coach the Dallas Cowboys’ front five to the top of the league from 2013-2017. His track record speaks for itself, and his experience under Bill Callahan is evident. It’s also nice to know he is the official run game coordinator, as that was never truly known with Turner. Considering how much Mixon respects Pollack, he’s the right coach to hold that title.

This was the biggest coaching vacancy the Bengals had this offseason, and before Wild Card weekend is over, the Bengals filled it with the best option available. Hopefully Pollack sticks around for more than one season this time around.