Closing out a difficult season in which they missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record despite winning five straight games down the stretch, change is coming for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Just not the change on the coaching staff many were expecting.
The Bengals reportedly fired longtime defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo Monday morning, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Anarumo had been the defensive coordinator since the 2019 season and oversaw a defense that helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl in the 2020 season. The longtime defensive coordinator wasn’t the only member of the Bengals’ coaching staff to lose his job Monday, though.
Along with Anarumo, the Bengals also reportedly fired offensive line coach Frank Pollack, defensive line coach Marion Hobby, and linebackers coach James Bettcher, according to a tweet from NFL Insider Jordan Schultz.
Pollack had been with the Bengals since 2021 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator, while Hobby had been the defensive line coach since 2021 as well. Bettcher had been with the Bengals since 2022 after serving as the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants from 2015-19 before spending a year with the San Francisco 49ers.
Though the Bengals finished in the bottom half of the league in a number of defensive categories, the decision to move on from Anarumo remains surprising, considering the Bengals’ defense turned it on down the stretch and was a big part of the team’s winning streak to close the season.
The Bengals also has a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate in defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks and in pressures with 83 on the season.
On the year, the Bengals’ defense finished 25th in yards per game allowed (348.3), 21st in passing yards per game (223.5), 19th in rushing yards allowed per game (124.8) and 26th in points per game allowed (25.5). However, the Bengals’ defense generated 25 takeaways on the year, good for seventh in the league.
Anarumo’s defense closed the season in style in Week 18, holding the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 193 yards of total offense in the Bengals’ 19-17 win, allowing just 3.3 yards per play to the Steelers.
