Lou Anarumo (born August 18, 1966) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the defensive backs coach at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

under

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...

and

Danny Hope Charles Daniel Hope (born January 7, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2007, and Purdue University from 2009 to 2012, compiling a career colle ...

from 2004 to 2011, the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

from 2012 to 2017, and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in 2018.

Early years

Anarumo was born on

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

in 1966. He attended

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

where he earned his degree in

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

. While at Wagner, he served as the

Junior Varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

head coach at Susan E. Wagner High School in Staten Island.

Coaching career

Early career

Anarumo served as the part-time running backs coach at Wagner in the spring of 1990 before he moved to the

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...

during the fall of 1990 to serve in the same capacity. From there, Anarumo went to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

where he served as a graduate assistant under Phil Elmassian working with the defensive backs. Anarumo then returned to the Merchant Marines as the defensive coordinator before being hired at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

to serve as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. It is at Harvard that Anarumo met former boss

Joe Philbin Joseph Anthony Philbin (born July 2, 1961) is an American football coach who, until recently, served as the offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, a position he h ...

, who at the time served as Harvard's offensive line coach. Anarumo made a stop at Marshall before being hired to replace Elmassian at

Miami Dolphins

In 2012, Anarumo was hired by the

as their defensive backs coach. On October 8, 2015, he was chosen to be the interim defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins to replace

Kevin Coyle Kevin Coyle (born January 14, 1956) is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator at Fresno State. Prior to that, Coyle was a senior analyst at LSU. He served as head coach of the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of Amer ...

who was fired the same day. Due to the changes in coaching staff following the 2015–16 season, he was once again made the defensive backs coach under

Adam Gase Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for ...

, the now head coach for the 2016–17 season.

New York Giants

On January 25, 2018, Anarumo was named as defensive backs coach for the

Cincinnati Bengals

On February 21, 2019, Anarumo was hired by the

as their defensive coordinator under head coach

Zac Taylor Zachary William Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Beginning his NFL career as an offensive assistant, he was the quarterbacks coach f ...

. He assumed Steve Jackson's cornerbacks coaching duties for the team's Week 11 and Week 12 games in 2020 against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

and

due to Jackson missing the games for

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

protocols. In the 2021–22 AFC Championship Game, Anarumo's defense held the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

to just a field goal in the second half and forced an interception in overtime, contributing to a 27–24 OT victory to advance to

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams defeated the American Football Conference ...

. In

, the Bengals lost 23–20 to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Personal life

Anarumo is married, and the couple have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anarumo, Lou 1966 births Living people Cincinnati Bengals coaches Harvard Crimson football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Merchant Marine Mariners football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches National Football League defensive coordinators New York Giants coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Sportspeople from Staten Island Syracuse Orange football coaches Wagner Seahawks football coaches