The OFFICIAL Welcome Al Golden Thread

[BengalsBong]

(01-24-2025, 10:25 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Well that's good. I thought for a minute maybe that came from him. Nevermind, I'm happy again...

Yeah, I cannot stand that either I want my linebackers to hit and punish people not wrap up and try to strip the ball.

[*pally*]

Interesting tidbit from Al's presser....His family never left Cincinnati. His kids wanted to finish high school here.

Mike Zimmer says he is retiring. Now his home is in Northern Kentucky so it will be interesting to see if he is around camp or the team at all

[*pally*]

Josh Bynes is currently the LB/Defensive Assistant Coach for the Seahawks

Asked Al Golden about his desire to stress technique and ball pursuit in his role as Bengals DC. He credits former LB Josh Bynes (2020 with Bengals) for making him a better coach:
"Yeah, that's all. Just reinforce, and just show why. I think that's the biggest thing. Just…

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 27, 2025

Asked Al Golden about his desire to stress technique and ball pursuit in his role as Bengals DC. He credits former LB Josh Bynes (2020 with Bengals) for making him a better coach:
"Yeah, that's all. Just reinforce, and just show why. I think that's the biggest thing. Just continue to share with them how we want to do this together, and here's the why behind it. And to be honest with you, I learned a lot from Josh Bynes when I was here last time. Josh Bynes made me a better coach. And he made me, because of his experience and because of his age, made me come up with the phrase, 'what did you see?' So it wouldn't always be, 'Hey Josh, let's do this, or let's do that.’ It’d be like, 'Hey Josh, what did you see? And tell me why you did what you did.' And I think there's certainly going to be enough veterans on our defense that we'll treat the same."

[*pally*]

Key takeaways from Al Golden Monday in first full session with media as Bengals DC:
* Everyone needs to play with "one heartbeat for sure"
* There is little room gray areas for interpreting defensive calls "I don't live in that gray world."
* Empower the players to make the right…

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 27, 2025

[*pally*]

“We’re not drafting them to sit next to us … That might be our #1 job.”@marshallkramsky asked Al Golden what his philosophy is, on playing rookies & young players. pic.twitter.com/1g9wctMAoo

— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) January 27, 2025

[Luvnit2]

(01-25-2025, 06:03 PM)Bilbo Saggins Wrote: Being a successful HC at the college level seems a lot easier than doing so in the pros. A lot of great coordinators did fail at the HC thing pretty hard in the NFL. 

So for me going .500 as a college HC doesn't wow me as being impressive. Maybe it was. Maybe those teams exceeded expectations or overcame talent deficiencies. But a .500 mark as a college HC doesn't really move the needle for me like some other accolades. Has Golden piloted an NFL defense to a top 5 finish before? Made a great pro offense look off balance? Why did the ownership poo-poo other candidates who did in favor of a former employee who they may know or like on a personal level?

Back to your question, I'd be interested in correlation between college HC records and NFL coordinator success. I don't have that info right at my fingertips nor the time to write a paper on football hiring processes. Schwartz, Spagnuolo, Joseph, etc. etc. flopped at HC in the pros but that's pro level and a different animal. Golden's track record looks pretty meh to me. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like Jim Harbaugh's where you wonder why teams aren't lining up to hire him. Zimmer and Saleh have better NFL DC credentials full stop. Others too. He seems like a comfort hire who won't rock the boat. 

You had my attention until you played your hand with your last sentence.

Rock the boat of a crappy defense? Don't we need a new DC to rock the boat of players and coaches to get a better result. I will be disappointed if he does not improve our defense. 

If he fails, you are correct. I hope he succeeds, do you? Or would you rather be right?

[Bilbo Saggins]

(01-27-2025, 07:57 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: You had my attention until you played your hand with your last sentence.

Rock the boat of a crappy defense? Don't we need a new DC to rock the boat of players and coaches to get a better result. I will be disappointed if he does not improve our defense. 

If he fails, you are correct. I hope he succeeds, do you? Or would you rather be right?

I'd rather see him go down as an all time great DC. I just try to be a realist. I don't mean rock the boat like demanding FAs or draft picks or insulting others in the organization. I meant a strong personality who isn't afraid to express an alternative vision. A person who can call a spade a spade and may help others to see their point of view. Maybe Golden can be just that. 

I just try to make educated guesses based on the information that I have available. He might be another Vance Joseph type who is developed by the organization and comes into his own. I'm left to wonder why others who seem to have more accolades were passed over and not even considered. I'd like to think that ownership is interested in getting the most out of the Burrow era as they possibly can. I'd think that in pursuit of that goal that it'd be wise to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of the best available DC. Again, Golden does have accomplishments and could be a very good DC. I just wonder with the information available to me if he was the optimal hire.