AFC Coaching Rumors: Bengals, Titans, Colts

Recently fired Dolphins coordinators Bill Lazor and Kevin Coyle will reunite with the Bengals, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Although the two former Miami game-planners will head to Cincinnati, they will do so with lesser responsibility. Lazor will coach the Bengals’ quarterbacks, while Coyle will preside over Cincinnati’s secondary.

The Bengals also hired Jacob Burney to coach their defensive line, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter).

Lazor’s first coordinator work lasted barely 1 1/2 seasons, with the Dolphins firing the 43-year-old offensive coach Nov. 30. He previously coached quarterbacks for Washington, the Seahawks and the Eagles before ascending to the top offensive perch in Miami.

Coyle returns to his longest-tenured position. He coached the Bengals’ DBs from 2003-11 before leaving to become the Dolphins’ DC under Joe Philbin. The Dolphins fired Coyle in October.

Burney’s coached defensive lines with the Broncos, Browns, Panthers, Ravens and Washington, with his most recent stint coming as Washington’s defensive line coach from 2010-14. Washington did not retain him after the 2014 season.

• Brian Schottenheimer will replace Clyde Christensen as the Colts’ quarterbacks coach, according to a release on the team’s website. Schottenheimer served as an offensive coordinator for the Jets and Rams from 2006-14 before the Rams fired him prior to the 2015 slate. A longtime Colts QBs coach, Christensen accepted the Dolphins’ OC job on Saturday.
• Bob Bolstad will be looking for work after the Titans, per Jenna Laine of Sports Talk 1040 The Team (on Twitter), don’t have intentions of offering their defensive line coach another contract. Russ Grimm and Pat Flaherty are finalists for the job, according to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports (Twitter link). Grimm had lengthy stints as the offensive line coach in three places — Washington, Pittsburgh and Arizona — from 1997-2012. Flaherty served on Tom Coughlin’s staff since 2004, signing on to be the Giants’ offensive line coach after Coughlin took over. Big Blue will not retain his services, however, according to James Kratch of NJ.com.