CINCINNATI -- At the end of each of the last two seasons, Lou Anarumo's stock as a head coach soared as the Cincinnati Bengals made deep playoff runs.
Anarumo was a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals vacancy last year that went to Jonathan Gannon. This year, it's harder to gauge where the fifth-year defensive coordinator stands after the Bengals missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. With a young secondary earning on the job experience, Cincinnati had a league-worst 6.1 yards allowed per play.
But in coach Zac Taylor's eyes, the year's results shouldn't diminish why Anarumo, along with offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, should still be considered for a head-coaching position.
"I think those guys are as good as anybody out there," Taylor said Dec. 29.
The numbers from this year's defense could point to why Anarumo could be facing a challenge to be a head coach in this year's cycle. But those who play for him offered insight as to why he has been successful despite the defensive metrics.
The case for Anarumo
This year presented unique challenges for Anarumo, the 57-year-old coach from Staten Island, New York.
In the previous three seasons, Anarumo leaned on safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell to anchor the defense. But with contract extensions for quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase on the horizon, Bates and Bell left in free agency. Bates, now with the Atlanta Falcons, was named to his first Pro Bowl after totaling six interceptions through Week 17.
In their void, 2022 first-round pick Dax Hill slotted in for Bates and rookie Jordan Battle, a third-round pick, took over for Bell.
Inside cornerback Mike Hilton noted that when he arrived in 2021, Anarumo was working with an experienced group. This year has required an adjustment.
"Seeing how much he's taking these young guys under his wing and really coaching them up and really being in their ear about communicating and being in the right spot, it is big," Hilton said.
Anarumo also had to manage a tricky situation with Chidobe Awuzie, who was the team's top cornerback in 2022 before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. As Awuzie returned this year, he rotated series with rookie DJ Turner, a second-round selection.
Both players have had their roles adjusted at times. Awuzie saw Turner start 11 straight games until last week's loss to Kansas City, as Turner was relegated to special packages.
Awuzie, who is in his seventh year in the league and third with the Bengals, praised the way Anarumo builds a rapport with players in the locker room. It's a level of trust that impacts touchy situations such as a player's usage.
"If Lou puts me in a position, I'm not thinking it's from ill intent," Awuzie said. "I'm not thinking it's from evil. I know it's from a good place. I know it's from the best intention, more so for this team and for me and for him."
Mike Thomas, a safety on Cincinnati's practice squad, played under Anarumo in stints with the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants. And the difference in Anarumo's coaching approach this year has been noteworthy.
"I've seen how he's handled young guys before and what he is today is completely 180," Thomas said. "Like, I don't know this man. He's had nothing but patience. He's continuing to put them in positions to have success."
That attribute, along with how Anarumo has developed in his ability to communicate and get the best of multiple position groups, shows Thomas why Anarumo is ready to be a head coach.
"He now knows in order to run an organization, to lead a team, he has to be able to relate to all these players," Thomas said.
The case against Anarumo
Anarumo's weekly news conferences with local reporters have carried a similar refrain in the final weeks of the regular season.
This year's Bengals defense will be remembered for allowing opponents to repeatedly reel off long gains.
"We give up big plays," Anarumo said Wednesday. "That's never been a trademark of us, but it is for this year. Youth has something to do with it, but it's not the only thing. We've got to get it fixed for sure."
Entering Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati has allowed 79 plays of 20 or more yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information, eight more than the Washington Commanders, the second-worst team in that category.
Granted, only seven of those 79 plays have resulted in touchdowns. But the 25-17 loss to Kansas City, in which big plays helped the Chiefs kick enough field goals to keep the Bengals at bay, showed why the big plays were an issue.
"You take away those explosive [plays], it could be a totally different game," Hilton said. "It's something we've been struggling with all season and it just kept biting us."
Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that it could never get solved. Hilton attributed the maladies to missed communication, blown assignments, bad tackling.
That could be held against Anarumo. But perhaps what makes the failures most frustrating is the players knew there was an issue but couldn't correct it. For Anarumo, that includes plays that worked in practice but weren't executed in games, even in a defense that was simplified this year to accommodate the young secondary.
"When push comes to shove and it's Patrick Mahomes over there, all of a sudden we short-circuit for some reason," Anarumo said. "Those are the things we'll have to figure out in the offseason -- exactly what our guys do well."
For the first time since 2020, the Bengals' offseason will start before the playoffs, where Anarumo and Callahan, the fifth-year offensive coordinator, have been able to display their work in Cincinnati's back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances, including one win.
The situation will make it harder to create head-coaching buzz, even if Taylor believes it's warranted for his coordinators.
"If you're part of a company or something that's doing well then all boats rise and those opportunities, that's just the way it works out sometimes," Taylor said. "But they're definitely qualified and ready to go if that comes their way."