Sports 27 January 2025

Bengals hire two defensive coaches

The Cincinnati Bengals today announced the hiring of Jerry Montgomery as defensive line coach/run game coordinator and Mike Hodges as linebackers coach.

Montgomery, 45, comes to Cincinnati from New England, where he spent the 2024 season as the Patriots’ defensive line coach. He previously spent nine seasons (2015-23) with Green Bay, serving as defensive front assistant (’15-17), defensive line coach (’18-21), and defensive line coach/running game coordinator (’22-23).

Prior to his first NFL stint in Green Bay, Montgomery spent 11 years in coaching roles at the collegiate level. He played defensive tackle at the University of Iowa from 1998-2001. He spent training camp with the New Orleans Saints in 2002, then went on to play in the Arena Football League from ‘03-05.

Hodges, 38, spent the past eight seasons (2017-24) with New Orleans, most recently serving as linebackers coach from ’20-24. He was a defensive assistant for the Saints from 2017-18, before being promoted to assistant linebackers coach for the ’19 season.

Hodges broke into NFL coaching with the Saints after three seasons (2014-16) on staff at Eastern Illinois University. He played linebacker at Texas A&M University from 2008-11, when Bengals head coach Zac Taylor served as an offensive graduate assistant and tight ends coach for the Aggies. Hodges earned second-team All-Big 12 Conference honors as a senior in 2011.

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