The Buffalo Bills are reaching out to potential head coaching candidates, and while most seem to be offensive-minded coaches, the team reportedly will interview at least one veteran coach with a defensive background. Reports have leaked that the Bills have requested an interview with Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo for their head coaching position.
Anarumo, 59, is a longtime coach in the NFL, but he began his career coaching with Purdue as the team’s running backs coach in 1989.
He moved on to coach at Syracuse as an assistant defensive backs coach (1990-1991) before coaching at the Merchant Marine Academy as the team’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach (1992-1994). He was the assistant head coach/defensive backs coach/special teams coach at Harvard from 1995-2000, and he also had stints at Marshall (2001-2003) and back at Purdue (2004-2011) coaching defensive backs.
His first NFL gig came with the Miami Dolphins, coaching their defensive backs from 2012-2017. In 2015, he was the interim defensive coordinator after Kevin Coyle was fired. He spent a season as the New York Giants defensive backs coach in 2018 before taking the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coordinator position, which he held from 2019-2024.
While with the Bengals, Anarumo built the stop unit into one of the league’s toughest. In 2021, the Bengals made the Super Bowl and nearly won the game, losing 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams. In 2022, the Bengals eliminated the Bills in a dominant defensive performance before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Cincinnati’s defense struggled mightily over Anarumo’s final two seasons, leading to his dismissal.
With the Colts this year, Anarumo’s defense was solid against the run, finishing second in yards allowed per attempt and seventh in rushing yards. However, they were just 21st in points allowed and second-to-last in passing yards allowed.
