The Bengals expected to lose Hue Jackson for quite some time, and despite an aggressive effort to keep him in place, the team was comfortable with the next man up.
Zampese has been the picture of loyalty for Cincinnati, and has served as the team's quarterbacks coach since 2003. His father, Ernie, coached in the NFL for almost 40 years and helped develop the Air Coryell offense.
The move was a logical one, if only because Lewis will not want to interrupt the steady growth of quarterback Andy Dalton. Zampese is the only positional coach Dalton has ever played for in the NFL. His career high in completion percentage and career low in interceptions will not be looked at as an aberration.
Though Jackson got most of the credit, the hiring of Zampese shows that he deserves some as well. Now, he'll get his chance to prove why.