CINCINNATI — Bengals players are very high on offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.
The NFLPA revealed results from an anonymous player survey ranking their team’s coordinators and Callahan (No. 4) checked in among the top five names.
“NFL players were asked to rate their offensive, defensive and/or special teams coordinators in conjunction with the second annual NFLPA Player Team Report Card project, an anonymous, comprehensive player survey* conducted among each team during NFLPA visits last fall,” The NFLPA stated. “These coordinators received the highest average rating from players on their clubs, based on survey results collected from players on each team.”
CINCINNATI — At the end of each of the last two seasons, Lou Anarumo’s stock as a head coach soared as the Cincinnati Bengals made deep playoff runs.
Anarumo was a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals vacancy last year that went to Jonathan Gannon. This year, it’s harder to gauge where the fifth-year defensive coordinator stands after the Bengals missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. With a young secondary earning on the job experience, Cincinnati had a league-worst 6.1 yards allowed per play.
But in coach Zac Taylor’s eyes, the year’s results shouldn’t diminish why Anarumo, along with offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, should still be considered for a head-coaching position.
“I think those guys are as good as anybody out there,” Taylor said Dec. 29.
The numbers from this year’s defense could point to why Anarumo could be facing a challenge to be a head coach in this year’s cycle. But those who play for him offered insight as to why he has been successful despite the defensive metrics.
The case for Anarumo
This year presented unique challenges for Anarumo, the 57-year-old coach from Staten Island, New York.
In the previous three seasons, Anarumo leaned on safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell to anchor the defense. But with contract extensions for quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase on the horizon, Bates and Bell left in free agency. Bates, now with the Atlanta Falcons, was named to his first Pro Bowl after totaling six interceptions through Week 17.
