Zac Taylor Addresses Assistant Coach Firings as Bengals Move Forward With 2025 Offseason

Cincinnati is making some big changes over the next few months.

May 12, 2023; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Director of college scouting Mike Potts far left) and director of player personnel Duke Tobin (left) and head coach Zac Taylor (right) and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo (far right) talk as rookies stretch during rookie mini camp inside the Bengals indoor practice bubble. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK / The Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor met with the media on Monday and dove into Cincinnati's decision to move on from multiple assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, linebackers coach James Bettcher, defensive line coach Marion Hobby, and offensive line coach Frank Pollack.

It marks the first time in Taylor's tenure that Cincinnati's cleaned out the staff like this as his sixth season in town wrapped up. 

"We made a couple coaching changes today," Taylor said to start his Monday press conference. "Do not take that lightly. Those were extremely hard moves for me to make. Those are all men that I have a ton of respect for. Been through really high, exciting times with them, and do not take those decisions lightly, and appreciate all that those guys brought to the table, because they're like brothers to me. They worked hard every single day, and those were not easy decisions to make. And we'll work to make those hires as soon as possible. When that time is appropriate."

Anarumo had been with Taylor his entire tenure to this point, now, one could argue the Bengals' head coach is making the most important hire of his career. Cincinnati's defense has been in the league's bottom-half by points allowed in five of Taylor's first six seasons.

All that, on top of needing to fix the consistent problems on both sides of the trenches.

"Just felt like we needed to change, and again, did not take that decision lightly," Taylor said about relieving Anarumo of the role. "Thought long and hard about it. Lou has been doing this for six years here, and the success we've had, I mean, he's been a big reason why we've had a lot of the success.

"And so again, I don't take this lightly, put a lot of thought into it. It's not an easy day for any of us. And and just felt like we need to perform better as a football team. And so again, it's not in any specific one area. I think we got to be better in all three phases of our team and these are the decisions I made today, and we'll work to be better."

Taylor understandably didn't have many answers on what kind of DC target he would pursue, but Cincinnati is on the hunt for elite coaching talent. Which could be the flipping pieces in missing the playoffs and making deep runs for years to come.

You're never that far away with how well Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Burrow are playing entering their primes.

"I think you look at every game and there's a play to be made in every single phase that we all regret," Taylor said about this season falling short. "Whatever it is, they are all things that we'll reflect back on and that are kind of a little bit of a thorn in your side for this season, but all we can do is improve on it moving forward and making sure that a season like this doesn't happen again."

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