Bengals Coach Up for Job in Phoenix

The NFL’s Phoenix Cardinals, still searching for a new head coach, flew in Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet for an interview today.

Coslet, 43, met with Cardinals General Manager Larry Wilson to talk about the job, which became vacant when Gene Stallings was fired Nov. 20 in his fourth season after records of 4-11-1, 7-8, 7-9 and 5-6.

Fourth-year running backs Coach Hank Kuhlmann finished the season as interim head coach and went 0-5 for the Cardinals, who wound up 5-11 for their fifth consecutive losing season.

Wilson said he first spoke with Coslet on Tuesday and arranged the interview Wednesday.

Coslet, who has been with the Bengals since 1981 and been their offensive coordinator since 1986, is scheduled to tour the Cardinals’ $10-million training facility under construction in south Tempe before returning to Cincinnati on Friday.

“I’ve never been interviewed for a head coaching job in the National Football League, so it’s all new to me,” said Coslet. “It’s his (Wilson’s) show. I’ll show up and see what he has to say, and I’m sure he’ll listen to what I have to say.

“We agreed to meet quickly and see if we can get something done. Other than that, everything is up in the air.”

Wilson, a Hall of Fame safety who also is the Cardinals’ director of football operations, said he hopes to hire a new head coach by Feb. 1 and is looking for “new blood.”

Wilson said Coslet is “a young, aggressive coach. I think he’s got good credentials.”

“I’m interested because it’s a head coaching job. I’ve been in the league for 18 years--10 as a coach, eight as a player,” said Coslet, a Bengals tight end from 1969 to ’76. “I think I have the experience. I think I have the know-how. I’d love to get the opportunity.”

Coslet is the second person interviewed for the Cardinals job.

Duke Coach Steve Spurrier met Wilson on Nov. 30 in Durham, N.C., and still is considered one of the top candidates.

Among others reportedly being considered are Rams defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur and quarterbacks Coach Dick Coury, Washington Redskins assistant head Coach Joe Bugel, Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Floyd Peters.

Wilson said he hopes to arrange an interview with Bugel, 49, in the next couple of days.

He said he will not approach the other coaches until their teams are finished with the NFL playoffs.

Shurmur, 57, was a finalist for the job in 1986 before the Cardinals hired Stallings.