Lou Anarumo Used AFC Championship Adversity During Head Coach Interview

The Bengals defensive coordinator revealed the story on The Season With Peter Schrager.

CINCINNATI — Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo joined The Season With Peter Schrager for an interview this week and he dove into a cool story coming off of the 2023 AFC Championship Game.

Joseph Ossai was obviously upset about his personal foul penalty on Patrick Mahomes that helped the Chiefs beat the Bengals by three points and advance to the Super Bowl. Germaine Pratt got visibly mad at Ossai, but later apologized, and B.J. Hill stood by his teammate when no one asked him to.

Anarumo used those examples in his Arizona Cardinals head coach interviews to show how he has helped change the Bengals' culture.

"I actually used it on my interview with Arizona," Anarumo told Schrager. "And because it was a moment where, Germaine is an emotional guy, and that's an emotional moment at the highest level. We're three points away from going to back-to-back Super Bowls. And so he said what he said. But the next day, in the locker room, Germaine is basically crying and saying, 'It's my fault.'"

The issue flashed away in a moment as the Bengals didn't let it linger into the offseason and 2023 campaign.

"How do you show culture? What's your way of changing our culture? Well, here it is. Let me show you," Anarumo described. "And these guys they want to not only play for each other, but they're gonna stand up for each other in the most heated moments. 

"When everything's going good and you're winning games, anybody can be the head coach. Okay, it's when you have gone through what we've gone through here from five years ago to where we are now. And all of the steps along the way, both positively and negatively, that you really know what is needed to be done to change a team around."

After a heartbreaking AFC Championship Game loss in KC, Germaine Pratt was on camera questioning Joseph Ossai.

It could have ripped apart the team at the seams.

But it didn’t.

It brought the @bengals closer. DC Lou Anarumo explained why on “The Season with Peter Schrager”. pic.twitter.com/LVXge9QtXP

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) October 17, 2023

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