Former Bengals team captain receives special promotion at his new team to continue working under his former coach
Great news for former Bengals safety Vonn Bell.
Former Cincinnati Bengals safety and nine-year NFL veteran Vonn Bell has a new title. Bell announced via his Instagram he’s been promoted as the safeties coach for Colorado University.
Bell, who played four of his nine professional years in Cincinnati, was initially hired by Colorado in 2025 as a defensive analyst. He was hired after playing the 2024 season for the Bengals, whom re-signed him after the former Ohio State Buckeye played the 2023 season for the Carolina Panthers.
Bell played in Cincinnati from 2020-22, his second and most productive career stop after spending his rookie contract with the New Orleans Saints from 2016-19. He was a team captain who played in 72 of 73 regular season and postseason game opportunities he had for the Bengals. He played more of his 151 career games in the Queen City than anywhere else.
55 of those games were played under the same coach he’s now coaching alongside of the Buffaloes sideline in Boulder, making this promotion all the more special.
Vonn Bell is now the safeties coach under his former safeties coach
Bell was not a random and recently retired player hired as part of Colorado’s defensive coaching staff. The defensive coordinator under Deion Sanders since 2024 is Robert Livingston, who spent eight of his nine years as a Bengals assistant coach as the club’s safeties coach.
Bell’s original three-year run in Cincinnati was with Livingston as his position coach. When the opportunity to hire a safeties coach came up, he turned to a pivotal leader from his most recent gig.
Bengals players voted Bell as one of their team captains in both 2021 and 2022 (and also when he came back in 2024). Did hit-sticking JuJu Smith-Schuster on national television in 2020 help? Sure, but they had immense trust in Bell, and so did Livingston and former DC Lou Anarumo.
While 2024 was not the season Bell wanted and his exit from the NFL seemed right because of it, his resume was quite strong to be a coach. What made him an asset on the field was more of what was in his mind rather than how fast he moved. Once the latter quality faded, it was time for the brains to continue his time in football.
Who better to trust him than one of his best coaches? Bell is now quickly progressing his coaching career, and will continue working under Livingston and Sanders.
Cincinnati Bengals News
Former Bengals player finds a new coaching job that will have him helping a team he used to hate
Domata Peko is back in the AFC North as he continues his coaching career.
