Zim to Vikes

[volcom69]

Well I do worry so about the DBs,man I just hope the next guy keeps this thing going. If the defense takes a hit or is somehow not the same, then I worry about next season. Maybe this is just me over reacting lol. Oh well good luck Zim

[HoosierCat]

Lapham, via Lance:

Zimmer's replacement?

Got to think the front-runner, likely and logical choice would be Bengals LB coach Paul Guenther.

As Lap told me last week:

He was probably as valuable as any coach they had this yr.

He deserves every opportunity to be defensive coordinator.

Guenther was responsible for a lot of the blitz packages they utilized this year.

He's kind of flown under radar.

Guenther/Burfict

I'll never forget the story that Vontaze Burfict and Paul Guenther told us on Bengals Line:

Burfict was backing up Rey Maualuga at MLB last year. Thomas Howard suffered a season ending injury before Week 2. Burfict was moved to Howard’s weak-side position. Guenther spent the night in the gym at Paul Brown Stadium, teaching Burfict the position, a position he'd never played. Guenther set up chairs to teach the position. You know the results. Burfict lead the Bengals in tackles.

[COB]

Well I do worry so about the DBs,man I just hope the next guy keeps this thing going. If the defense takes a hit or is somehow not the same, then I worry about next season. Maybe this is just me over reacting lol. Oh well good luck Zim

You're not overreacting, I think we all have the same worries. You can't replace Zimmer. Top 5 defense almost every year. I just hope the inevitable fall off is minimal. Also, we will lose players to the Vikings as someone pointed out a month or so ago.

And the player loss could take place over 2 or 3 years, as guys who see Zim as a father figure play out their deals.

Depression sets in.

[COB]

spent the night in the gym at Paul Brown Stadium,

Paul Brown Stadium has a gym? Alert TJ and other disgruntled Hamilton County taxpayers of this extravagance.

[HoosierCat]

Also, we will lose players to the Vikings as someone pointed out a month or so ago.

And I will ask the same question, which went unanswered then: who?

MJ? Well, we had already pretty much written him off. They locked up Carlos and Geno long-term last year. They just re-signed Manualuga and they arn't going to let Vontaze or First Name Rey go.

So who are we worried about here?

[HoosierCat]

Per Rapoport, Guenther is deciding between following Zimmer, following Gruden, or staying in Cincy as DC. Stay tuned...

[TJJackson]

sucks

[volcom69]

Yea this pretty much sucks.

One thing we could always count on was guys playing hard for Zim. For years we could not count on the offense week in and week out, but for the most part the defense was always consistant.

[jjakq27]

I am happy for Zim but I am a little sad for the Bengals, Zimmer was such an incredible influence on the defense and the leadership of the team. He brought a tough mindedness into the locker room and it was obvious that his players loved playing for him. I can only hope that Guenther provides the same leadership.

I think influenced the entire franchise. He had the guts to tell Marvin, Mike and Katie was needed to be said. Their drafts, the quality of people the selected or got rid of and the overall play of the team improved from when he got here. I have to believe that he elevated the standard of what was to be expected by everyone. Good luck to him. I hope he is successful and shows a lot of teams what they missed out on.

Going forward, I guess they are giving Guenther the opportunity to choose rather than prohibit him from going elsewhere. As for possible defensive coordinator replacements, is there anyone else on the staff worthy of a look? Someone like Mark Carrier? Also, I think the Rooney Rule applies to coordinator level jobs too so they may not be able to hand it to directly to Guenther without going thru the process.

And are there any fired guys that are in need of a job? Or is there a lower level assistant on another team out there?Hard to remember with all of the movement of late. Maybe Les Frazier will come back, lol.

[HoosierCat]

Interesting note, Josh collected tweets from five different Bengals wishing Zim well.

I can't recall a single Bengal player tweeting about Gruden leaving...

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Gruden leaving is probably an upgrade.

Not Zimmer.

Stupid Mike Brown, an owner who really cared about winning would've put something in place for Zim already to become HC, if he isn't going to extend stupid Marvin again.

Makes no sense. It was widely known Zimmer was happy here.

[volcom69]

We can't say Zim is going to be a great coach, we think so but have no clue. All I know is from player reactions I really think this is going to hurt this team. Sure there is talent like crazy, but Zim got everything and more from these guys. It just worries me the next guy won't, and we will see so many flaws that Zim was able to hide, by great game calling. Question is will we see still see that, or is the defense not that great, and how Zim coached made them great. Guess time will tell, but it's amazing the reaction I'm seeing.

[skyline]

For what it's worth, Albert Breer said to look for the Bengals to promote Geunther and to do it quickly. Skins and Vikes are both interested in him.

This would be the best possible news at this point as far as I can tell. I've already seen tweets from Dunlap and Iloka endorsing him.

[skyline]

And, it is now official according to multiple sources.

Good news!

Someone that knows the system and already has a strong relationship established with the players.

Gotta give credit to the Bengals organization. They have depth with coaches as well as players and it's paying off. Some seriously good long-term planning going on here...

[kingwilly]

Bummer.

He will get his shot, hope it works out good for him. He will be missed, that's for sure.

Just saw Guenther has been named DC.

[jjakq27]

The link in NFL.com listed Norv Turner or Scott Linehan as possible OC's for Zimmer.

[HoosierCat]

The link in NFL.com listed Norv Turner...as possible OC's for Zimmer.

NOOOOOOO! DON'T DO IT ZIM!!!!

/>http://www.bangcartoon.com/2007/norvaway.htm

[Kazkal]

Per Rapoport, Guenther is deciding between following Zimmer, following Gruden, or staying in Cincy as DC. Stay tuned...

He would be dumb to leave Cinci IMO most talented Defense he would have got to work with,Though following zimmer wouldn't be bad I wonder if he'll call his own defenses.

Good news!

Someone that knows the system and already has a strong relationship established with the players.

Well He knows the guys I'd say still not quite same alot of the guys on Defense saw Zimmer has a Father figure.Guenther looks younger then some of the players o.O

[volcom69]

I'm hoping they bring in the Ex lions coach Jim S. as the LB coach, as much as I'm not a huge fan of his I think he will do well with that group. Sounds like they need another assistant DB coach as well.

[jjakq27]

I'm hoping they bring in the Ex lions coach Jim S. as the LB coach, as much as I'm not a huge fan of his I think he will do well with that group. Sounds like they need another assistant DB coach as well.

Who else was on Schwartz's staff on defense? With all of the turnover, there have to be some available guys for position coaches on defense.

[jjakq27]

The Best of Zimmer

/>http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Zims-top-five-games/d6f4b49b-9ffe-40e0-9b85-39d5dcd82c0f

[jjakq27]

The link in NFL.com listed Norv Turner...as possible OC's for Zimmer.

NOOOOOOO! DON'T DO IT ZIM!!!!

http://www.bangcarto...07/norvaway.htm

Done!
/>http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000314789/article/norv-turner-agrees-to-join-minnesota-vikings-as-oc

And AP getting the ol' groin checked out. Sounds like the same thing Chris Perry had.
/>http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000314766/article/vikings-adrian-peterson-will-visit-groin-specialist

[TJJackson]

Except AP has some pain tolerance, whereas ol' Two Carry did not

[Sea Ray]

I'm hoping they bring in the Ex lions coach Jim S. as the LB coach, as much as I'm not a huge fan of his I think he will do well with that group. Sounds like they need another assistant DB coach as well.

Who else was on Schwartz's staff on defense? With all of the turnover, there have to be some available guys for position coaches on defense.

You can't expect to get a guy to go from head coach to position coach but they did pluck someone off Schwartz' staff:

The Cincinnati Bengals filled one of their two position coach vacancies Saturday by naming former Lions assistant Matt Burke as their new linebackers coach, taking the post recently promoted defensive coordinator Paul Guenther once held..."Matt has come up under the system of Jim Schwartz, starting with Jim at the Tennessee Titans and then moving on when Jim got the head-coaching job at Detroit. He was one of Jim's hand-picked guys, and I think most people know how much I respect Jim as a friend and colleague."

Lewis and Schwartz coached together in Baltimore in the late 1990s. They also have been longtime friends, prompting beliefs that Lewis was exploring the possibility of hiring Schwartz for both the previously vacant Bengals defensive coordinator and linebackers positions. Schwartz was fired by the Lions at the end of the recently completed regular season.

Burke, 37, played a key role in helping develop Lions linebackers Stephen Tulloch and DeAndre Levy. Both led the team in total tackles in 2012. In 2013, the Lions' defense ranked sixth against the run. The Bengals had the league's third-best defense that same regular season.

/>http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/5116/bengals-matt-burke-linebackers-coach

[TJJackson]

You can't expect to get a guy to go from head coach to position coach

It happens sometimes

Our own Hue Jackson, for example