Cincinnati Bengals Coaching Staff Ranked Behind Top Contenders Entering 2025 Season

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have tweaked the coaching staff a bit in recent years under Zac Taylor. Dan Pitcher and Al Golden are the coordinators now, after time with Brian Callahan and Lou Anarumo flanking Taylor.

ESPN's Ben Solak assessed all 32 staffs this offseason and ranked Cincinnati in the middle of the pack at No. 17.

"I feel poorly about this," Solak wrote. "Last season, I had the Bengals ranked a few spots higher and called it a big prove-it year for Taylor. Joe Mixon and Brian Callahan had just left, both of the main receivers were seeking new contracts, and Joe Burrow was dealing with a throwing hand injury. I thought Taylor had been improving as a head coach, and I wanted to believe he was ready for that huge season as both a schemer and locker room manager -- and despite missing the playoffs, he impressed.

"The Bengals were more creative on offense than they had ever been before, finally getting production out of the tight end position and elevating a scatback in Chase Brown to a successful full-time role. Also of note: improved decision-making. Cincinnati was second only to the Eagles in EPA gained by making the correct fourth-down decision. Taylor, whose tenure is weirdly the seventh-longest among head coaches (doesn't seem that way, does it?), has gotten better at the job year by year, and I want to give him his flowers for that.

"Yet here they are at 17th, and it's because Taylor doesn't have the same impact on the offense that Matt LaFleur or Kyle Shanahan, and Sean McVay (or Mike McDaniel or Kevin O'Connell, and so on) have. That, and I just don't know much how Al Golden will fare as an NFL defensive coordinator. There are reasons for faith. He was a great positional coach for Cincinnati when it reached Super Bowl LVI, and succeeded as a defensive playcaller in college. But he hasn't exactly received a full cupboard of personnel, so the ask is steep for a team in need of quick fixes on defense to return to contention. I'll put it this way: The teams between No. 14 and No. 17 make up the toughest stretch of this exercise. You could jumble them up in any order, and I'd believe it was the way I ranked them."

Add in a new offensive and defensive line coach to the mix in Scott Peters/Jerry Montgomery, and there has been plenty of change for the Bengals staff.

All to maximize Joe Burrow's prime and bring home a Lombardi Trophy to Cincinnati. Taylor has grown in multiple ways as a head coach in his schemes, now we'll see if he's evolved his in-game coaching this fall.

Better fourth-down decisions are low-hanging fruit Taylor could pick to keep improving.

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