And just like that Jack Del Rio not deemed ‘perfect fit’ for Bengals Defensive Coordinator position

The Bengals slept on it. Then they spoke with Jack Del Rio early Tuesday morning and decided he wasn’t their guy. The long time NFL head coach was considered the favorite to land the Bengals’ DC job as of Monday night and was set to formally interview for the job later this week, but that interview will no longer take place as he has no longer considered a fit for new head coach Zac Taylor’s staff according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Del Rio didn’t coach at any level last season after having been unceremoniously fired by the Raiders just a season after having signed an 2-year extension with the team that had him under contract until 2021.

The former NFL linebacker was plucked from the Broncos where he was the DC for three seasons under former mentor John Fox following a 9-year stint as the head coach of the Jaguars.

Putting a coordinator who was a head coach 12 of the past 16 years under a 35-year-old who was elevated straight from a QB coach to head coach may not have been an easy situation for Del Rio. Or it could simply have been philosophical differences. Who knows. But this marriage fizzled before the first date and it looks like Del Rio might just remain out of coaching again in 2019.