Bengals get a new defensive coordinator

[The Irish Doggy]

from bengals.com:

 

 

Lewis 'Chucks' defense

1/19/2005 - 1-19-05, 10:45 a.m.

BY GEOFF HOBSON

The least surprising move of the Bengals’ off-season came on the heels of the first surprising move Wednesday when Chuck Bresnahan became the club’s defensive coordinator.

 

Bresnahan, 44, a Super Bowl coordinator with the Raiders and Bill Belichick disciple, moves into the vacuum left by head coach Marvin Lewis’ Jan. 5 move not to retain Leslie Frazier.

 

The fiery Bresnahan, a Naval Academy graduate, takes over a unit that improved in virtually every significant statistical category last season. But Lewis is looking for two major upgrades, fewer big plays and a better run defense that gave up an average of 163 yards per game on the ground against AFC North foes.

 

“Chuck will do well. I always enjoyed watching his Raiders’ defenses play,” said Bengals defensive tackle John Thornton. “They always played with an edge. I don’t want us to play like the Raiders, but I think we do need a little bit of that edge.”

 

Bresnahan and Lewis struck up a relationship after Lewis’ Ravens beat Bresnahan’s Raiders in a Titanic defensive struggle in the 2000 AFC championship game in which only one touchdown was scored. After being on three straight AFC West champions in Oakland, Bresnahan left the Raiders after the 2003 season following a contract dispute and surfaced on the Bengals’ staff at the 2004 spring camps.

 

His outgoing personality is more a reflection of Lewis than the soft-spoken Frazier, and players expect to feel a difference.

 

“Chuck’s an extrovert. Even when he’s just talking to players, he kind of gets in your face,” Thornton said. “It’s going to be different. Les was a good X and Os coach and Chuck knows a lot of football. They just have different personalities.”

 

Thornton and his teammates expected the move because of the continuity factor. When he first arrived last spring, Bresnahan said a key to his philosophy is simplicity and fundamentals. Thornton said that could be seen in the 10-minute sessions he had in front of the defense each Wednesday.

 

“Chuck’s big thing this past year was formations, and I think he helped out the young guys in trying to simplify it for them,” Thornton said.

 

Bresnahan has been an NFL coach since 1994 and has been to the playoffs at each stop before Cincinnati. He spent two seasons with Cleveland, where he coached the linebackers under Belichick, and two with Indianapolis before moving to Oakland in 1998.

 

He was defensive backs coach for the Raiders in 1998 and 1999 before taking over as defensive coordinator from 2000 through 2003. The Raiders won AFC West titles in his first three seasons as coordinator, and his 2002 defense helped carry Oakland to the AFC Championship.

 

“This is a great opportunity to build on the foundation that has been laid here,” Bresnahan said. “I got the chance last season to get familiar with the talented young players we have, and I’m excited about our future.”

 

A native of Springfield, Mass., Bresnahan attended the Naval Academy, where he played linebacker from 1979-82. He was a commissioned officer in the Navy from 1983-86. He was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech from 1987-91, a stint that included the 1990 season as linebackers coach for a team that won the national championship.

 

“I’m enthused about the future of our defense, and about the experience that Chuck brings us,” Lewis said. “I have great confidence in his ability to oversee the development of a unit that has shown us a lot of potential.”

 

Bresnahan gave a glimpse of his intensity during last May's sitdown with Bengals.com when he said he was "sick," when it came to his job.

 

"I’m terminal. You have to be in this profession," Bresnahan said. "Sick to me is, man, when I get up in the morning, I can't wait to get in the car and get in here. And when I leave at night, it’s where you wait to turn off that light until you make sure you’ve got everything done. The day I lose that feeling, that commitment, is the day I’m going to do something else. Because this profession, as demanding as it is, you have to go down there and look those players in the eyes and you have to know you’re totally prepared yourself."