The Cincinnati Bengals are certainly hoping that their laughingstock standing around the NFL ended with Marvin Lewis’ departure as the team’s head coach back in January.
While Lewis had led Cincinnati to relevance throughout his long tenure as the team’s head coach, it had become the butt of jokes around the NFL in recent seasons.
Enter into the equation a fresh young face in that of former Rams quarterback coach Zac Taylor to be the Bengals’ head coach. At 35 years old, he at least brings new blood to the long fledgling organization.
Unfortunately, Taylor is not going to get his man to coordinator the Bengals’ defense. He had been seeking Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham for the same role.
Citing his family and other obligations in Florida, Grantham has reportedly turned down what would have been an obvious promotion.
This report comes to us via Nick de la Torre of Gator Country and has since been confirmed by multiple media outlets.
Grantham is coming off his first season as the Gators’ defensive coordinator under head coach Dan Mullen. He served in the same capacity for one season with Mullen at Mississippi State.
For the Bengals, this simply means they are now going to have to go in a different direction. It’s noticeable in that Taylor is an offensive-minded coach without and previous experience in this role. He’s going to need a veteran guy to lead the defense. Jack Del Rio could now sit at the top of the list. He’d qualify from an experience standpoint.