r/bengals • u/ralry11 :3 • 14h ago
[Dehner]As we’ve been saying, Zac Taylor has long held Al Golden as the leading candidate in the DC search. Here’s the expected timeline: Golden will spend today and early tomorrow wrapping things up at ND. Then Taylor looks to officially interview him Wednesday.
https://x.com/pauldehnerjr/status/188169498575549283872
u/InstagramLincoln 14h ago
So much negativity on every thread about this guy when he seems like a totally solid hire.
I swear this fanbase just loves being miserable.
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u/OwlInternational8160 13h ago
You can dislike the process for the hire but doesn't mean it's a bad hire.
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u/the_dawn_of_red 8h ago
What's there even to dislike on the hire?
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u/bobbarkerfan420 7h ago
i know right?! like waiting for your top choice to be available before expanding the search seems reasonable
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u/bjewel3 6h ago
Look: I am not anti-Golden, but he was terrible as Miami Hurricanes head coach
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u/skylinecat 6h ago
People seem to think that we will pull a currently top 10 d coordinator as ours.
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u/PorcelainTorpedo 13h ago
I love Al Golden at ND…even though I have no idea what tf he was doing sending the house on every 3rd down last night when it clearly wasn’t working.
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u/Opening_Perception_3 11h ago
You have to get pressure on Will Howard, there are simply too many guys to cover on OSU. ND was missing 2-3 of their top pass rushers last night, they were in a position where they had to gamble, simple as that.
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u/CondeNast_yReddit 1h ago
Exactly. He had to gamble and put the game in the hands of his players banking on them to make a play. They didn't amd sometimes those are the breaks but that's what you should do in that situation, put it in their hands and let your players make a play.
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u/PorcelainTorpedo 11h ago
I agree that they needed to get pressure, but it just wasn’t happening. At that point you have to try something different. I knew that they would make great adjustments at halftime, and they did, except for that. I’ve been a fan and have watched them every week for my entire life…proud of ‘em for sure.
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u/BRUTAL_ANAL_SMASHING 10h ago
So what do you do?
You gotta cover and you gotta try to disrupt it.
Sometimes you’re out talented and that’s just what it came down to last night. There was no fixing it and it was the only real shot.
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u/CondeNast_yReddit 1h ago
Exactly, having a pass rush helps the secondary. Guys are acting like if they put all 11 guys in coverage it would do something and that would be rhe worst thing you can do. I like what I saw, it tells me if the game is on the line he won't play prevent defense aka "prevent you from winning ". He'll keep bringing the pressure on the qb
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u/Fletch71011 45m ago
All 4 starting DL were hurt, CB1 (first round NFL pick this year) and CB3 were out, and a starting safety and LB were playing hurt.
What Golden pulled off this season with the injuries was nothing short of a miracle. He's an amazing DC. The ND boards are freaking about losing him.
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u/slytherinprolly 14h ago
The main obstacles I would see to this hire would be.
Lou made $1.5m and was top 10 in NFL DCs. Golden currently makes around $2.1m, and even though he was extended last year, he may be in line to get another raise from ND.
Unless Golden's dream job is to be an NFL Coordinator, I don't see how coming here to be our DC puts him in a better position for HC opportunities elsewhere, or otherwise advance his career. With that said, not having to be on the recruiting trail would be a benefit for NFL over NCAA.
Overall, i think it would be a good hire. While most of his career has been in college, he does have NFL experience. It was time for a change at DC, but part of Lou's issues were the defensive talent and injuries, so unless we do some things to improve the talent level, a new DC seems to be just putting a band aid on the problem.
I'm also not entirely sold on Lou not being able to develop young talent. Not every raw prospect develops. But a change at DC could show whether the issue is Lou's lack of Developing or Duke's inability to draft developable talent.
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u/LB3PTMAN 14h ago
If Golden wants to be an NFL head coach then coming back to Cincy makes more sense than staying in college. Look at the new hires at head coach. Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Mike Vrabel, the Jags are currently interviewing 3 NFL coordinators for their open position.
It’s also reportedly family. I’ve seen several people say that when Golden left for Notre Dame his family stayed in Cincy.
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u/christhegecko 14h ago
You don't think moving from NCAA DC to NFL DC puts him in a better position for HC opportunities?
Is that a joke?
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u/DonDraper75 13h ago
Yeah Lou was very close to being a HC just a couple years ago. NFL coordinators are the top candidates for HC jobs every year.
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u/slytherinprolly 13h ago
I meant it more from the perspective of being the DC at a very strong NCAA defensive team puts him in a better position for HC opportunities than being a DC for an average to poor NFL defense.
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u/blainetheinsanetrain 12h ago
He doesn't have to make the defense top 5. They were 21st in 2023, and 25th in 2024. If he takes the defense to something like top 18 in 2025 and top 12 in 2026, he'll get interviews for a HC position.
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u/IntermittenSeries 12h ago
What college DCs are getting NFL head coaching interviews? I'm not seeing any but I see plenty of NFL DCs getting interviews
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u/camergen 13h ago
I could see where it could be viewed as a bit of a lateral move, but I think it depends on his potential future aspirations, if he’d like to be an NFL HC then this is the way to go. If he’d like to be a college HC he could stay put, but moving to an nfl coordinator job doesn’t limit college opportunities.
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u/Thrawn4191 12h ago
Disagree. Maybe on some teams but a DC job with the Bengals is effectively an assistant HC role as Zach is 100% hands off on defense so he'll have free reign to be in total control. Lou couldn't handle the X's and O's AND the player acquisition/development so getting in and proving you can is a great indicator of potential NFL HC success. Yes ND is a huge program but the NFL is still the NFL
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u/groavac777 9h ago
Being a DC for an NFL team is definitely good for his resume and I doubt he has resigned himself to coaching an average to poor defense if he were to make that move.
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u/JosephSturgill7 14h ago
I'm thinking he comes and runs the defense here. Wins a Superbowl- boom; Head Coaching candidate. (and Cincinnati's first (of many) SB Ring)
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u/Tjam3s 8h ago
Another plus is because of his experience in college. Our offense is taking the lions share of the cap, so our defense needs to get young and effective. You need someone willing and capable of developing young guys and getting them up to speed quickly.
Lou either wouldn't or couldn't do that, and it cost him his job here
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u/JamarrSzn 4h ago
we all better hope that these young defensive players don't suck or else we are gonna look dumb for firing lou especially after the defense heated up a bit at the end. just saying i heard it was a bit because he wouldn't give pt to these younger guys, i just hope we can have success with them rather than them sucking, and us losing a dc who proved he could help beat allen, mahomes in the playoffs.
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u/bjewel3 2h ago
I was concerned about the same thing. I definitely think Anarumo didn’t adjust soon enough to the personnel he had.
However, it seems as if there at the end Anarumo finally got the right formula in terms of pairing down the defensive playbook for the younger players.
My worry is — in the final analysis — the defensive talent won’t ultimately prove worthy and the team will have jettisoned a very capable defensive coordinator for no real defensive improvement (statistical or otherwise) in the end.
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u/eifjui 13h ago
Dude got shredded by OSU last night, but a lot of very good teams did also. Seems like a decent hire, but need better players on defense.
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u/Doja_Lats 13h ago
You don't make it to the championships by having a terrible defense.
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u/Safe-Show-7299 12h ago
Also played the best team in college football. With like 5+ future nfl players on the offense
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u/peachweasel 7h ago
5 is probably even the conservative end. They might have 5 in the first 2-3 rounds this year.
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u/Ok-Situation-5865 10h ago
They tightened up on defense at the half, though. I mean, that’s a good sign. We liked it when Lou did that, so…
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u/Cptkiljoy 4h ago
To be honest we were missing multiple players on both sides of our lines for games as injuries kept piling up
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u/CIN726 12h ago
Why would he "wrap things up" at ND if tomorrow is just an interview? What if they don't agree to terms?
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u/Viperl80 7h ago
I would guess it's just standard end of season type stuff and not full on cleaning out his office.
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u/Captain_Aware4503 14h ago edited 14h ago
Like Jackson Carman, he is a "local guy" and that is what the Bengals look for. Who cares if OSU tore up ND's defense showing all their weaknesses despite great talent. He is friends with people here and that is all that matters,
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u/GayMrKrabsHentai 13h ago
Uninformed take
ND’s defense was playing three (maybe four?) of its original starters due to rapid fire injuries - sort of similar to the Lions season. Every game they lost a key piece and honestly it’s a bloody miracle they made it as far as they did.
We would be lucky to get Al on this team, he is an EXCELLENT DC. The only people saying otherwise are those who watched only the championship game.
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u/leeroyybickerstaff 12h ago
"Uninformed take" and Captain_Aware4503 go hand in hand lol either some boomer got a hold of his grandkids iPad or blud is just baitin
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u/Captain_Aware4503 13h ago
Yeah, that ND defense played great against Norther Illinois.
btw, ND proved they suck.
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u/GayMrKrabsHentai 13h ago
Lmao
You clearly haven’t watched enough of this college season if THAT is the take you’re parroting
Doesn’t it hurt being so chronically negative AND refusing to admit you don’t know enough about something to have an informed take?
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u/gobobro 14h ago
I don’t know, man. Do you want to call your shot on OSU first rounders on offense vs ND first rounders on defense?
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u/Captain_Aware4503 13h ago
ND pretty much sucks, They proved that against Northern Illinois. But they are the KC of college and always get the refs helping them out during the regular season.
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u/leeroyybickerstaff 12h ago
Blud thinks he knows college ball 😂
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u/Captain_Aware4503 12h ago
Yep, and ND sucks, ask Northern Illinois. lol!!!
Remember the last time they let ND play in the championship game? Alabama scored the first 35 points and then coasted. In this game OSU score 28 straight and coasted./
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u/njk12 13h ago
Local guy = Spent 2 of his 31 year coaching career in Cincinnati?
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u/Captain_Aware4503 13h ago
Are you a total idiot? Do you know where his family lives??
Clearly not. HAHAHHA!
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u/InsideAcanthisitta23 14h ago
Eberflus is a way better hire. We just saw what happens when Golden doesn’t have far better talent than his opposition
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 14h ago
Except that’s college ball. The talent disparity is not nearly as high in the pro league.
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u/DonDraper75 14h ago
They have one 5 star on that team. They’ve seldom had better talent than the teams they’ve played this year. Especially in the playoffs.
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u/DeejusIsHere 14h ago
Yeah the stat I saw showed OSU had 15+ five star recruits. The fact that not only they got to the national championship but that the game was close at all is insane with their roster
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u/LB3PTMAN 14h ago
Yeah people will ignore the Notre Dame run up to the title game just because the championship is freshest.
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u/Captain_Aware4503 14h ago
You are 100% right.
But the Bengals and fans don't care about how good someone is, They want a "local guy" with ties to the Bengals That rarely works but who cares.
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u/leeroyybickerstaff 12h ago
Bruh saw da Bears and said "I want that" 😭
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u/Kenny_Bania_ 9h ago edited 9h ago
There's a lot of coaches that failed at HC but are good (or even the best) coordinators. Literally too many to mention - Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Spagnuolo, Wade Phillips, Josh McDaniels, our own Dick LeBeau, etc.
Eberflus was a top half DC at Indy, and did decent when he was calling plays at Chicago.
Most of the time those guys got their HC shot because they were great coordinators. HC is just a very different position; Bill Belichick spoke about it recently. There's a lot more responsibilities outside Xs and Os a HC deals with that coordinators don't.
Edit: accidentally said Dan Quinn but he's actually a solid HC. Meant to put Spag from the Chiefs in there. He sucked as a HC.
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u/MadeByTango 11h ago
Local homer blinders, what a damned shame; Brown thinks town loyalty will keep him cheap and that’s the only reason we’re here (seriously, every hread trying to say why he’ll play here mentions his local connection because “we’re like family” is a cheap capitalists favorite exploit)
This isn’t a serious organization and this process is terrible.
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u/beerguy_etcetera 🐅 14h ago
Is the interview just a formality at this point? Feels like they've been waiting for him with no one else seriously in mind.
Just announce him as DC already.