Bruce Coslet Bruce Coslet ( born August 5 , 1946 ) is a former American college and professional football player and professional football coach . A tight end , he played for the University of the Pacific and in 1969 debuted with the American Football League ' s Cincinnati Bengals . He played for the Bengals in the NFL through 1976 . Coaching career . Cincinnati Bengals ( 1986 - 89 ) . Coslet was named the offensive coordinator for the Bengals in 1986 under head coach Sam Wyche . In his first year in the position Cincinnati ' s offense ranked first in the league in total yards and third in total points scored , and the Bengals finished the season with a 10 - 6 record . It was not enough , however , for the team to make the playoffs as they were one of four teams in the AFC that finished 10 - 6 and did not have any tiebreakers favoring them . In 1987 the Bengals ranked fifth in total yards under Coslet , but failed to score many points and finished the season with a 4 - 11 record . The Bengals ' best was yet to come , however , and Coslet ' s offensive unit finished with the top scoring and top yardage producing offense in 1988 . It helped the Bengals finish 12 - 4 and reach the Super Bowl , only for them to lose to the San Francisco 49ers . Although Cincinnati failed to return to the playoffs in 1989 , Coslet ' s unit was again in the top five in the league as they scored the fourth most points and produced the third most total yards in the NFL . With his successes as an assistant , Coslet found himself highly sought after as a head coach and was hired by the New York Jets for the 1990 season . New York Jets ( 1990 - 93 ) . Coslet took over a Jets team that had finished 4 - 12 under Joe Walton the year before and improved the team ' s fortunes slightly . The Jets were hovering around . 500 for the first half of the season , but a five - game losing streak took away any hope of that . The Jets finished 6 - 10 , winning their last two games of the year against the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . In 1991 , the Jets did not start out particularly well as , after an opening week win against Tampa Bay , the team dropped their next three games . Coslet led the team to six wins in their next eight games , putting the Jets into playoff contention , but the team required a win in their final game against the Miami Dolphins after losing three straight games . The Jets won , giving Coslet his first ( and what proved to be his only ) playoff appearance . New York was quickly eliminated , however , by the Houston Oilers in the wild card round . Coslet ' s 1992 team was decimated by injuries and hampered by the ineffective play of new starting quarterback Browning Nagle , who was named the starter after longtime veteran starter Ken O ' Brien held out for most of the first half of the season . Among the injured players were veteran wide receiver Al Toon , who suffered a concussion against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and was forced to retire immediately after the game , and defensive end Dennis Byrd , who suffered a career ending broken neck in Week 13 against the Kansas City Chiefs . Although the Jets finished 4 - 12 , two of the wins came against AFC East division champion Miami and the eventual AFC champion Buffalo Bills . The Jets retained Coslet for the 1993 season , but it became clear that this was going to be his final year unless the Jets somehow qualified for the playoffs . To help the Jets make a run toward the playoffs , the Jets acquired Coslet ' s former starting quarterback with the Bengals , Boomer Esiason , in the offseason . Through thirteen games the Jets looked to be primed to make the playoffs , as a Week 15 win over the Washington Redskins had them at 8 - 5 and was their sixth win in their last seven games . However , New York was blown out at home by the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys in Week 16 and then blew a fourth quarter lead and lost to the Bills , and needed a victory in Week 18 against a Houston team that was on a ten - game winning streak . The Jets were shut out , 24 - 0 , and Coslet was fired shortly thereafter with his second 8 - 8 mark . Return to the Bengals ( 1994 - 2000 ) . Coslet returned to the Bengals , who were now coached by Dave Shula , and retook his offensive coordinator position . Cincinnati was not the same place that Coslet had left , as the team was now one of the most consistently losing teams in the league . In his first two years as coordinator Coslet ' s offensive unit hovered around the middle of the league in yards and points scored while the Bengals won a combined 10 games . The team did have some bright spots offensively , as Coslet ' s former backup quarterback with the Jets , Jeff Blake , became a star starter ( ending the era of first round bust David Klingler as Bengals quarterback ) and wide receivers Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott were his two main targets . In Coslet ' s first season back , Pickens had over 1 , 000 yards receiving and the rookie Scott added 866 . Coslet ' s offensive unit improved somewhat in 1995 , as Blake threw for over 3 , 800 yards and made the Pro Bowl while Pickens recorded 17 receiving touchdowns and 1 , 234 yards to join Blake . Scott recorded 821 yards , and tight end Tony McGee caught 55 passes for 754 yards . Although the yardage wasn ' t there , Coslet ' s offense finished fourth in the league in total touchdowns with 29 . After a 1 - 6 start to the 1996 season , Shula announced his resignation and Coslet was promoted to the head coaching position . Although the Bengals once again failed to make the playoffs , Coslet led the team to a 7 - 2 finish and the offensive unit was back in the NFL ' s top 10 . Pickens and Scott again proved to be an effective 1 - 2 combination , as Pickens caught 100 passes and topped 1 , 000 yards for the third straight year while Scott added 58 catches for 833 yards . Blake threw for 3 , 624 yards , but it was not good enough to make the Pro Bowl ; Pickens was the offense ' s only representative . Although Coslet saw the team take a slight step backward , finishing at 7 - 9 in 1997 , the offense again finished in the top ten in points scored and total yards . Most of that was due to the re - emergence of Boomer Esiason , who the Bengals reacquired in the offseason and who replaced a largely ineffective Blake with five games left in the season . Esiason won four of those starts , with his only loss coming in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles where he threw four touchdown passes only to be beat on a late field goal . Esiason threw 13 touchdown passes against two interceptions in his limited action . Although Scott and Pickens ' receiving statistics went down considerably - Scott led the team with 54 catches and 797 yards , while Pickens only managed 52 catches in 695 yards while missing four games - the offense found a new star in emerging rookie running back Corey Dillon , who amassed over 1 , 100 yards despite only making six total starts . The 1998 Bengals took a nosedive , finishing at 3 - 13 . Coslet elected to give the starting job to veteran Neil O ' Donnell , who had just been released from a multi - million dollar long term deal he ' d signed with the Jets prior to the 1996 season . O ' Donnell , Blake , and Paul Justin all saw action as starting quarterback that year , with O ' Donnell leading the team in wins with just two . Despite this , Pickens returned to form leading the team in catches and yards while Scott led the team with seven touchdowns . Dillon became the full - time starting halfback and rushed for 1 , 100 yards again . Coslet ' s 1999 team did little better , and started out by losing ten of its first eleven games . Blake was once again the starter for most of the year , with rookie Akili Smith getting four starts . Blake managed to throw for 2 , 670 yards and 16 touchdowns despite only winning three of his starts , while Smith showed the struggles that would come to define his career by only throwing two touchdowns versus six interceptions . Although the offense struggled , Dillon again topped a thousand yards by rushing for exactly 1 , 200 and Scott topped 1 , 000 receiving yards and led the team in catches , yards , and touchdowns . Pickens could only manage 57 catches for 737 yards . In addition , Pickens was highly critical of Coslet toward the end of the season , and denounced the team for keeping him on despite the last two seasons . In the 1999 offseason , the Bengals decided to overhaul their roster . Blake was allowed to leave in free agency and signed with the New Orleans Saints . Pickens was released and played out his final season with the Tennessee Titans . Scott did not play at all in the 2000 season , and Smith was named the starter . The focus of the offense was to be on Dillon , Scott , and highly touted # 1 draft pick Peter Warrick . However , Coslet saw his team struggle in their first game as a unit against the newly reformed Cleveland Browns and lost 24 - 7 . The next week , the Jacksonville Jaguars shut out Coslet ' s team 14 - 0 . After their third consecutive loss , this one a 37 - 0 blowout against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens , Coslet resigned the next day out of frustration and handed control of the team to defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau . Dallas Cowboys ( 2002 ) . After a year off , Coslet was hired by Cowboys head coach Dave Campo to serve as his offensive coordinator . Coslet ' s unit ranked near the bottom of the league in both points scored and total yards . Under Coslet , Emmitt Smith saw his streak of 1 , 000 yard seasons broken at eleven despite his setting of the NFL ' s all time rushing yardage record . Smith also only managed five rushing touchdowns , two off his career low . Neither of his starting quarterbacks , Chad Hutchinson or Quincy Carter , were effective either . After a 5 - 11 finish , the third straight under Campo , Bill Parcells was hired as head coach and Coslet was not retained . He has not held a coaching position since . Personal life . Coslet is a member of The Delta Upsilon Fraternity .