Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Hires O-Line Coach Who Was Involved In Dolphins Bullying Scandal

It didn’t take long for Richie Incognito to find another gig in the NFL after he was released by the Dolphins in 2013 for bullying and racially abusing former teammate Jonathan Martin. But Incognito’s former offensive line coach, Jim Turner, has been out of the league since 2014, when he was fired because of his participation in and awareness of the widespread bullying within the Dolphins’ locker room. Turner is back in the NFL now, though, and he has new Bengals head coach Zac Taylor to thank.

Taylor, one of the few Sean McVay clones to snag an NFL head coaching job this offseason, hired Turner to be his offensive line coach. Taylor, who worked with Turner at Miami and Texas A&M, defended his decision to hire his disgraced buddy. From ESPN:

“I know the man and I know he’s a great person, great human. And so, somebody I trust,” Taylor said Thursday. “We talked about culture and bringing the right people in this building and I would never do anything that would tarnish the reputation of the Brown family and the Bengals organization if I didn’t believe in the person and know the person inside and out. ... And that’s why I’m excited to get Jim in here. Football coaching aside, I like the person and I know the person.”

When the findings of Ted Wells’s investigation into the Dolphins were released in 2014, Turner was found to have been well aware of the insulting comments that Incognito directed at Martin, and to having pressured Martin to publicly defend Incognito after the scandal broke. The investigation also determined that Turner directly participated in the homophobic bullying of another player. 

While Turner was coaching at Texas A&M in 2016, he was suspended for two weeks for his role in creating an extremely sexist presentation for female football fans.