According to The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals coach Zac Taylor has long held Golden “as the leading candidate” in the defensive coordinator search and the franchise hopes to officially interview Golden on Wednesday. The Bengals fired Lou Anarumo after the team failed to make the playoffs for a second straight year, and his replacement will be responsible for a complete overhaul of the staff and potentially the defensive roster.
As we’ve been saying, Zac Taylor has long held Al Golden as the leading candidate in the DC search.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 21, 2025
Here’s the expected timeline: Golden will spend today and early tomorrow wrapping things up at ND. Then Taylor looks to officially interview him Wednesday.
From there, just what…
Golden had served as Cincinnati’s linebackers coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and his position group played a major role in the team’s Super Bowl run that last year.
The 55-year-old has spent the last three seasons in South Bend, Ind., turning Notre Dame’s defense into one of the best in college football. The Irish ranked as the fifth-best defense in yards allowed last year, and in 2024, they ranked fourth in passing defense (169.4 passing yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (tied, 15.5 points per game allowed).
They just couldn’t hold up against a potent Ohio State offense Monday night, but that should not deter the Bengals or any other team that might be interested in hiring him. Golden was the linebackers’ coach when Cincinnati drafted Logan Wilson, and he played a crucial role in the early development of him and 2019 draft pick Germaine Pratt.
Golden was believed to be waiting until the end of the season to explore the opportunity with the Bengals, but it was so widely reported that he was a favored candidate, he had to deflect questions about the job opening leading up to the big game Monday.
“It’s humbling that your name is mentioned because of team success or the success of our defense,” Golden said. ”This is not the time or place. This is about the kids ... The biggest thing for us right now is understanding the enormity of this game. That’s our focus. All of that other stuff, we’ll deal with in the future.”
Bengals extend Cam Grandy
The Bengals announced Tuesday they have signed tight end Cam Grandy to a one-year contract extension through the 2025 season.
Grandy, who will be a second-year player in 2025, originally was a college free agent signee of the Bengals in 2024. He played in eight games with six starts in his rookie season and caught five passes for 28 yards, helping fill a void left when rookie fourth-round draft pick Erick All suffered a season-ending knee injury.
The Bengals gave Grandy his debut with a standard gameday elevation from the practice squad Nov. 7 at Baltimore and signed him to the active roster the following week. By the end of the season, he was playing more snaps on offense but also filling a significant role on special teams.
Bengals honored on PFWA teams
Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow was voted to Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team, which was announced Tuesday. He led rookie punters in gross and net average after earning the job while Brad Robbins was dealing with an injury in the preseason.
The PFWA had announced Monday that Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and defensive end Trey Hendrickson were selected to the association’s All-NFL team and All-AFC team.
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