After their worst rushing season in history, the Bengals tapped Cowboys offensive line coach Frank Pollack and his resume of three straight seasons in the NFL's top ten in rushing. Pollack, who played guard for the Super Bowl champion 49ers during an eight-year career in the '90s, becomes the Bengals' third line coach since 1980 and replaces Paul Alexander after 24 seasons.
The Bengals have had a bird's eye view of Pollack's work, first when he broke into the league as an assistant offensive line coach with Houston from 2007-2011. In 2011 the Texans smashed the Bengals twice on the ground within a month, first with 144 yards in a Houston regular-season win at Paul Brown Stadium, and then in a Houston Wild Card win at home behind running back Arian Foster's 153 yards.
Then in 2016 Cowboys running back Zeke Elliott went for 134 yards on just 15 carries in Dallas' 28-14 win over the Bengals. The Cowboys finished second in NFL rushing the past two seasons and ninth in 2015.
Pollack, 50, shares lineage with former Bengals offensive line coach Jim McNally. McNally, the Cincinnati line coach from 1980-94, worked for three years with Bill Callahan when they were with the Jets from 2008-11. Pollack played for Callahan at Northern Arizona and coached under him in Dallas from 2013-14.
