Bengals fire defensive coordinator Anarumo

The Cincinnati Bengals fired several assistant coaches including defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo on Monday, the team announced.

Cincinnati also dismissed offensive line coach Frank Pollack, linebackers coach James Bettcher and defensive line coach Marion Hobby.

Anarumo, 58, held the position since 2019 and was considered a head-coaching candidate last offseason.

The Bengals' defense struggled to keep up with the opposition this season. Anarumo's unit finished 25th in the NFL in points (25.5) and total yards per game (348.3).

"He's been a big reason why we've had a lot of success," head coach Zac Taylor said about Anarumo, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. "Just felt like we needed to perform better as a football team."

Taylor added that making sizeable changes to his coaching staff was his decision.

Anarumo previously served as the interim defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins in 2015. He also spent time as a defensive backs coach in Miami and with the New York Giants.

Trey Hendrickson was again one of the brightest stars on Cincinnati's defense, leading the league with 17.5 sacks. The Bengals struggled to pull out wins this season, specifically losing seven one-score games behind a top-10 offense. Struggles within the defensive secondary have been difficult to overcome over the past two seasons for Anarumo.