Bengals undergo significant coaching stuff change

The Cincinnati Bengals already have a different look as they try to dig out of their latest playoff flop, with a new offensive coordinator and four different position coaches. In a few weeks, free agency will start reshaping the roster, reports AP.

 

An offseason of significant change has started already in Cincinnati.

 

The AFC North champions knew that last season would be their final one with their team intact, which is why they put so much emphasis on winning a playoff game and getting deep into the postseason. Their last-minute meltdown for an 18-16 loss to Pittsburgh extended the streak of postseason futility to 25 years.

 

Coach Marvin Lewis is coming back for his 14th season, even though his 0-7 mark in playoff games is the worst in NFL history.

 

The Bengals have lost in the opening round for five consecutive seasons - no other NFL team has done it more than three times in a row.

 

Lewis' staff looks a lot different already.

 

Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson left for the head coaching job in Cleveland. Jackson brought his creativity to the offense and helped Andy Dalton take an important step in his development last season. Dalton had the NFL's top passer rating when he broke his right thumb on Dec. 13, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

 

The Bengals promoted quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese, giving them their third different offensive coordinator in four years. Jackson was promoted after Jay Gruden took the head coaching job in Washington.

 

Zampese has been with the Bengals for 13 years as the quarterbacks coach, working with Carson Palmer as well as Dalton. He was the offensive coordinator at Northern Arizona in 1995, but hasn't held the position in the NFL, so the first season will be a learning experience.

 

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football franchise based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) of the National Football League (NFL).

 

The franchise takes its name from an earlier Cincinnati Bengals team, which played from 1937–1941. It also was a nod to Paul Brown's Massillon, Ohio, roots where he coached the high school team known as the Tigers. The city's world-renowned zoo was also home to a rare white royal Bengal tiger.