Dan Mullen hasn’t had the same defensive coordinator working for him at the same school since 2014 when Geoff Collins was entering his fourth season as the leader of Mullen’s Mississippi State defense. The Florida coach appeared poised to break that streak in 2019 but that may not be happening after all.

Of course, Todd Grantham at least worked under Mullen in back-to-back seasons spanning back to their time at Mississippi State but now it appears the Cincinnati Bengals are closing in on hiring the current Gator defensive coordinator. After meeting with Grantham on Tuesday, the assistant coach has remained in Cincinnati for a follow-up meeting on Wednesday.

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Grantham is Cincinnati’s choice to become new head coach Zac Taylor’s first defensive coordinator. Now the only issue is getting a contract ironed out with Grantham. The fact Grantham hasn’t signed a deal yet should give Florida fans some optimism that he could return to Gainesville. The Cincinnati Enquirer is also reporting that Grantham has been offered the job but has yet to accept it.

If he leaves Cincinnati without a deal, that could also signal the end of his interest in taking the NFL job.

At the very least, Mullen has plenty of experience hiring defensive coordinators in recent season, and for the most part, has done an outstanding job of making the right decision when it comes to his hires. Collins was followed by Manny Diaz (now Miami’s head coach), then Peter Sirmon (who was the lone miss) which then led to the hiring of Grantham in 2017.