No first year coach wants to take a step back from the previous season especially with a major regime change from the Marvin Lewis era. Marvin wasn’t getting it done anymore and the league was moving to young minds and fresh talent. In steps the hiring of Zac Taylor. Now I will be the first to admin that I was not a huge fan of the hiring. I wanted either Eric Bienemy or Jack Del Rio. Bienemy is now the hot name to be hired by the Panthers and Del Rio just signed on to be the DC in Washington. So let’s breakdown the coaches:
Zac Taylor: The rookie coach led us to two wins with a healthy QB, a banged up and terrible OL, and without his best player AJ Green. This offense was going to sputter but the reason for bringing in Taylor was his ideas on offense and how he could change and modernize. We didn’t see that. Why don’t we use Gio Bernard more and have Erickson line up like a Julian Edelman (no, not because he is white). Can we not be more creative with the speedster Ross instead of one reverse that was blown up? Does anyone really believe the read-pass-option that Taylor runs with Andy Dalton? Dalton has okay speed but not enough to buy that he isn’t handing the ball off every time. We often did not see half-time adjustments. On the positive side, we did not waste timeouts and challenges like Marvin was notorious for. It’s hard to stamp your team out in one year but it’s time to make some changes with this coach. We need an OC, and I don’t mean Brian Callahan in title only. Taylor calls the plays so let’s get a signal caller in that has some ideas. Yes I wouldn”t mind Hue Jackson (please no death threats) but I have a better thought in the rising name of Joe Brady from LSU. His name is being thrown around in the NFL and if we take Burrow he can build his playbook around his strengths. The new NFL is allowing QBs to do what they are good at. It seems to be working for Jackson in Baltimore and Watson in Houston. Keep Zac on board but let’s tweak some things.
Lou Anarumo: Bye Felicia! Every week the good folks at cincyjungle.com do the good and the bad and every week Sweet Lou comes up on the naughty list. The defense did get better at the end of the season but in the first 12 weeks they were terrible. The Bengals had the third lowest INT rate in the NFL and one of the worst ranked defenses. Jack Del Rio would have been a great replacement but he is taken. Can we get Marvin (yes no death threats, please, again) or an old school coach that plays hard-nosed and can set the edge against these mobile quarterbacks? In our division alone we have two mobile QBs to play twice a year and a oak tree that cannot ever be taken down in the pocket. Schemes need to change and….FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLAY BETTER ZONE DEFENSE!
Darrin Simmons: You survive the Red Wedding and your consistent ST squad had a good season. The kicking game was above average and coverage held its own. Simmons seems to be a consistent bright spot in the coaching ranks.
Bill Callahan: He was just fired by the Redskins after taking over for Jay Gruden. Callahan (father of “OC” Brian Callahan) is known as one of the best OL coaches in the business. He was responsible for the rebuild of the Dallas Cowboy OL and schemed up an impressive OL with the Skins after living through the Trent Williams debauchery and an already weak offensive line. Sign this man immediately and make him an assistant head coach and in charge of the OL to paint another masterpiece.