Cincinnati Bengals v Cleveland Browns
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The NFL hiring cycle for head coaches has come and gone. The final two spots, Arizona and Indianapolis, were filled on Tuesday with a pair of Eagles coordinators -- Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals) and Shane Steichen (Colts). With those last couple of jobs filled, that means all the other candidates will head back to their respective teams with hopes of putting their hat back in the ring next offseason when other gigs pop up. That includes Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, which Cincinnati looks at as quite the coup that it was able to retain him. 

"Selfishly, I'm ecstatic he'll be back, but he'd still make a great head coach," linebacker Logan Wilson said of Anarumo staying. "Glad to be in his system for another year."

"We're glad to have him back," defensive end Sam Hubbard added. 

Anarumo has been the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati since 2019 when Zac Taylor was hired as head coach. While the Bengals offense led by Joe Burrow garners most of the headlines, Anarumo's defense has been top tier over that stretch as well. This past season, the Bengals defense ranked 11th in the NFL in DVOA and was particularly good at keeping teams out of the end zone giving up just 20.1 points per game (tied for fifth lowest in the NFL). Once the fourth quarter hit, Cincy was able to shut teams down defensively, allowing just 4.2 points over the final quarterback of play, which was good for the third lowest in the league during the regular season. 

That level of production made Anarumo a fascinating head-coaching candidate and was reportedly one of the finalists for the Cardinals job. While it's unfortunate for him that he will have to wait a bit longer to elevate to head coach, it's a big win for Cincinnati. 

"He's a players' coach, and guys buy into his system because of that," Wilson said, "which in turn allows guys to play free and effectively."

The Staten Island native first broke into the NFL as a defensive backs coach in 2012 with the Dolphins. He remained with the Miami organization until 2017 when he took the defensive backs job with the Giants before ultimately making the jump to DC with the Bengals the following offseason.