Cincinnati Bengals Have TWO Finalists For Defensive Coordinator Job

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

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00:00And then, there were two.

00:02It's time to get into the two finalists for the Bengals Defensive Coordinator Search.

00:06My thoughts, my instant reaction, and yes, BengalsTalk.com had the scoop.

00:20Hi again everyone and welcome in to CBT.

00:22I'm James Ruppin of BengalsTalk.com.

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00:42Let's get to Dre Harris.

00:44My man, Dre Harris, who has been contributing to BengalsTalk.com for a little bit of time,

00:50joined us during the 2024 season.

00:52And it might have been preseason.

00:54Dre Harris joined us in 2024.

00:56And boy, oh boy, did he have the scoop of the day.

00:59The scoop of the offseason thus far.

01:02Two finalists for the Bengals Defensive Coordinator job.

01:05The first of which is Patrick Graham.

01:08The former Las Vegas Raiders Defensive Coordinator.

01:11Someone who has gotten head coaching interviews with the Jaguars.

01:14Has been a Defensive Coordinator in multiple spots.

01:16Well-respected throughout the league.

01:18Patrick Graham interviewed last week.

01:20He is a finalist for the job.

01:22And the other one, none other than Al Golden.

01:25That's right, the Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator.

01:27And I don't think that this is going to shock a lot of people.

01:30That it's these two.

01:31By the way, as I was prepping for this, I was thinking like, oh, well, it's Golden Graham.

01:36You could combine both of the Bengals Defensive Coordinators and boom, you've got a bomb cereal.

01:40But the point is, with Al Golden, I think it's really interesting.

01:45Because you're talking about the Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator.

01:48Someone that has a history with Zach Taylor.

01:50Was the Bengals linebackers coach in 2020 and 2021.

01:53Good relationship there.

01:55I wonder if he sold his house, right?

01:57I'm sure he had a house here.

01:58I wonder if he sold it.

01:59Because if he didn't, well, then it would be real easy if he got the job to move in.

02:02Notre Dame is preparing for the National Championship game on January 20th.

02:06So it's not like the Bengals can hire him today.

02:09But it would explain the search.

02:12I think with these two finalists, and again, Dre Harris all over it.

02:17For him to land this news and then you think about it and you look at it and you're like,

02:21all right, well, Patrick Graham, someone they interviewed early on in the process last week.

02:25And Al Golden, someone they can't interview because he's busy coaching and hoping to shut down Ohio State

02:29en route to a National Championship.

02:31It makes sense that the search has gone the way the search has gone.

02:34Where they are not bringing in this guy and that guy and that guy and that guy and that guy.

02:38They're going in, likely getting someone they know in Al Golden.

02:44Or someone that, yeah, Patrick Graham hasn't coached here, but he's coached with guys that are in town.

02:50Charles Burks is in town.

02:52He's worked with him.

02:53You look at Patrick Graham, he's worked with Bill Belichick, Brian Flores.

02:56He's worked with these high-end defensive minds.

02:59And so it's real easy to see how he got an interview, instantly became a contender,

03:05and ultimately a finalist.

03:07We'll see who they go with.

03:08Now, Dre believes it's going to be Al Golden.

03:10I think a lot of people, in general, thought it would be Al Golden.

03:14You're talking about a guy at Notre Dame coaching one of the best defenses in college.

03:19He's worked with young guys.

03:20He's related to young guys.

03:21He's maximized them.

03:23You're talking about someone that the Bengals know and are familiar with and is a really, really high-end coach.

03:31And I'm sure there were times this year when Lou Anarumo, when he wasn't playing the young guys,

03:38when he wasn't maximizing the young guys, whether it's Jordan Battle, Miles Murphy,

03:41I mean, Dax Hill over the past couple of years.

03:44Do you think Al Golden can get more out of those guys?

03:47And I think that's what Zack Taylor would ask himself.

03:49And the interesting thing here is it's not like you need to have a formal interview with Al Golden

03:58if you're still communicating with him.

03:59Not sure if he is or not.

04:01And I'm sure they will go through that interview process and all of those things.

04:06But it felt like just during the search why it was the way it was, which isn't the Bengals are interviewing 50 guys

04:14for this coordinator job.

04:16It was a short list.

04:17And as of now, DeMarcus Covington and Patrick Graham, I'm trying to think if there's anyone else.

04:24Those are the only two interviews.

04:26And Graham obviously held in high regard.

04:28I thought Covington might slide into that defensive line coach spot depending, and maybe he does,

04:34regardless of who you get.

04:35But Al Golden feels like the favorite to me.

04:38And it felt like the favorite to DeRay Harris.

04:40I think it felt like the favorite to a lot of people.

04:42Now, I think a lot of you are going to say, why not Matt Iberflues?

04:45Or why not this guy?

04:46Or why not that guy?

04:47I think it's a fair question.

04:50And with this search, there would be questions about Matt Iberflues.

04:54There's going to be questions about Al Golden.

04:55There's going to be questions about Patrick Graham or questions about whoever they hired.

04:59There really is.

05:00There was no candidate to me.

05:02Even Robert Sala, if they had hired him, I'd be like, yeah, high-end coach, does he fit?

05:08So there would be questions about all of these guys.

05:10And Matt Iberflues, it would be, yeah, all right, well, is he going to be able to maximize the young guys?

05:15He did pretty well with the Indianapolis Colts.

05:18But by the end, it had kind of gotten stale.

05:20Will he build something that's sustainable?

05:23Who knows, right?

05:25And so there's questions about all of these guys.

05:27But I think when you look at Al Golden and how he was able to relate to young guys at Notre Dame, when you look at Patrick Graham,

05:34and I asked around the league, and I've talked about him a few times on the channel, written about him, BengalsTalk.com,

05:39talked about him on Locked on Bengals.

05:41One of the things that stands out to me about Patrick Graham is how well-respected he is.

05:47And so you're talking about Al Golden has a relationship with Zach Taylor and the organization, has fared very well in the college game,

05:55obviously has Notre Dame at a really high end point here playing for a national championship.

06:00There's a big reason why.

06:01That defense has been awesome.

06:03And by the way, they may give up 40 to Ohio State.

06:05It doesn't really change anything.

06:07Ohio State is loaded.

06:08When I brought up Tosh Lapoi, people were like, Ohio State crushing him.

06:12They crushed him.

06:13And it's like, yeah, Ohio State's really freaking good.

06:16So I do think that that's part of it.

06:19But to me, both guys, well-respected.

06:22Both guys have skins on the wall and for different reasons.

06:27One worked with Belichick and one worked with Flores.

06:30The other one has worked with the Bengals, has done it at Notre Dame, has done it at the college game.

06:35And now what you're going to want to do if you hire Golden is make sure not only does that translate,

06:41but that he gets the most out of these young guys and anyone that you draft that's young that you're banking on.

06:47Because they're going to draft young defensive players that they're banking on this season.

06:51So whoever you bring in at defensive coordinator would have to do that.

06:54So instant reaction.

06:56My, oh my, the Bengals defensive coordinator search is down to two.

07:00Patrick Graham, Al Golden.

07:02Who will it be?

07:05It feels like Al Golden's the favorite.

07:06It feels like they're waiting on him.

07:07It doesn't mean that he's going to get it.

07:09Maybe Patrick Graham does get it.

07:11I think Covington could certainly be a contender for that defensive line coach position as well,

07:15which the Bengals have to fill.

07:17The point of this video and every video is anytime there's breaking news,

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07:49And for Andrew Fox Miller, I'm James Irpeen.

07:52We're down to two.

07:53Golden Graham.

07:54We'll see who gets the job, and we will have it when it happens, right here,

07:57on Cincinnati Bengals Talk.

07:59I'm giving them a C-.

08:01A C-?

08:02They missed the playoff.

08:03It's a complete and utter failure.

08:05F.

08:06By those standards, then OK, James.

08:08If you didn't get to the Super Bowl, it's an F.

08:10Then it's a straight pass fail.

08:11Postseason or no postseason?

08:12Straight pass fail.

08:13So why are we doing letter grading?

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