Chess pieces on a board

Word from Atlanta over the weekend is that Hue Jackson, Falcons offensive coordinator in 2007, could be re-hired by the Bengals. Officially, the Falcons, still searching for a head coach to replace Bobby Petrino, who quit, have given the Bengals permission to interview Jackson. Jackson has told associates in Atlanta that he is confident he could be back on the Bengals staff quickly.

In fact, both of Atlanta's 2007 coordinators, defensive boss Mike Zimmer and Jackson, could end up on Cincinnati's staff in the near future. Zimmer interviewed with the Bengals for their vacant coordinator job Jan. 4 and is the top candidate.

Jackson had a successful run from 2004-06 as Bengals wide receivers coach and played a big role in the further development of Chad Johnson, the emergence of T.J. Houshmandzadeh as an eventual Pro Bowl player and the grooming of 2005 rookies Chris Henry and Tab Perry. Jackson's greatest asset was his ability to communicate with his position players and the way he kept a collection of strong personalities in check and focused.

But there are no openings on the offensive staff at this point.

One possible shift to keep an eye on:

No coach on the Bengals staff is ripe for promotion or advancement like five-year quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator position at Carolina and was offered the coordinator job by Jets coach Eric Mangini. Zampese chose to stay with the Bengals.

Zampese's name is likely to surface again in the next couple of weeks as a strong candidate for another coordinator position, once head-coaching jobs are settled in places such as Miami, Baltimore and Atlanta.

If Zampese were to leave for another job, current Bengals wide receivers coach Mike Sheppard, a former quarterbacks coach with the Saints (2002-04), could slide over to coach quarterbacks, creating room for Jackson to return as wide receivers coach.

No one is saying this, but I will. (Again, this opinion is mine and is not based on anything I was told.) But I would guess that quarterback Carson Palmer, in his Dec. 31 comments that changes had to be made on the coaching staff, might have been talking about the unruliness of the team's wide receivers. Palmer never outed his receivers, but the sense around the locker room was he was growing weary from dealing with the constant lobbying for the ball and personal competition between his top two receivers.

Sheppard is an excellent coach, a professorial type, with an impressive resume, but word in the locker room was that the receivers didn't listen to him the way they had Jackson. Whoever was responsible, there were many times this past season when Palmer and his receivers mis-communicated on pass routes. The ball was one place, the receiver another. Such problems shouldn't have been so frequent with a quarterback and receivers (Johnson and Houshmandzadeh) who'd been starting together for a fourth season. A symbol of the dysfunction was the goal-line interception before the half against New England and the now-infamous caught-on-TV verbal confrontation between Palmer and Johnson coming off the field.

When the Bengals fired defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan and linebackers coach Ricky Hunley two weeks ago, they also said that the rest of their coaching staff was under contract for 2008. But there still could be more changes, especially if a coach or two left for a promotion with another team. There is no one more likely to get that chance than Zampese. He is primed to be an NFL offensive play-caller.