It's been two weeks since the Cincinnati Bengals made it official by announcing former Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor as their new head coach, but it's been even longer since they decided to make that move. (With the Rams making a trip to the Super Bowl, Taylor could not officially take a new job until the season ended.) Despite knowing for more than a month that he'd be taking this job, Taylor has still been unable to find someone to sign up to be his defensive coordinator.
As our Sean Wagner-McGough wrote last week:
On Wednesday night, Todd Grantham decided to remain Florida's defensive coordinator instead of taking the Bengals' job. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Grantham was the "top choice" of the Bengals and "does have eyes on the NFL," but he won't make the leap this year.
If you're keeping track, two candidates have now spurned the Bengals' advances. Last week, former Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers rejected the chance to become the Bengals' new defensive coordinator, according to SiriusXM's Alex Marvez.
Before Capers turned down the job, the Bengals reportedly showed interest in Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, whose contract in New Orleans had expired. But Allen ended up re-upping with the Saints. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Fletcher Page, fired Broncos coach Vance Joseph, who interviewed for the Bengals' head coaching vacancy, was considered for the defensive coordinator job as well, but he chose to join the Cardinals instead. Former Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was once in the mix, but according to Rapoport, "both sides decided it wasn't a perfect fit."
Taylor, though, is not worried. And he says there's no rush to find someone to fill the role. "No [timetable], just need the right person," Taylor said, per The MMQB.
In the meantime, he's leaning on defensive assistants Robert Livingston and Daronte Jones, who coach the secondary. With the NFL combine set to begin next week and free agency soon after, the Bengals will surely want to nail down someone to run the defense so that they can target the right kinds of players. Maybe there's no rush, like Taylor says, but there's certainly a deadline bearing down.
