"He's such a great resource for us watching the players and being another set of great eyes. He's loco about the game of football. He loves it and he knows players."

When McNally parachutes in every now and again, he's hardly on the field. But he's a big help to Turner and Martin as a one-man support group, a consigliere of concepts on tape. For his part, McNally has been impressed by how well Turner and Martin work together. With the 54-year-old Turner the oldest coach on the Bengals offense, there is a nice mix with Turner's no-nonsense military base inspection demeanor clicking with Martin's youthful many-hats energy.

But they've also got a lot in common, starting with passion for the game and keeping up with the latest O-line fads, right through to their Boston blue-collar roots. Turner is the son of a Boston Globe pressman and Martin's father worked for New England Bell for 27 years.

"He and Jimmy Turner have a real bond. They're like Tom and Jerry. Stiller and Meara. I don't know. Name any good combo," McNally says. "You can tell they've been together before. One guy steps one way, one guy steps the other way. And the players love them."

Martin met Turner, fittingly enough for the Boston pair, on St. Patrick's Day when Martin showed up for work one day at Merrimack and Perry told him to get in the car because they were going to watch eight hours of line play at Turner's home. The next time he talked to Turner was a year and a half later when he called about joining him at A&M. Turner then brought him his first NFL gig, a two-year stint in Miami that was followed by more grinding at the small colleges. This past calendar year saw Martin with four jobs, leaving Union for Bryant to coach in 2018 and then after the season following James Perry, John's brother, to Brown as offensive line coach. But weeks later Turner called again from the NFL.

That's paying dues and trusting relationships, just another part of the symphony behind a one-line NFL transaction. His first goal was a full-time coaching job by 30 years old. He got it at age 30. His second for ages 30-35 was to become a father. Check.

Martin's relationship with Turner also tells you something about what Taylor wants from his staff. The playbook may be installed on high-tech servers. But he wants the labels printed in black and white. That's what Turner remembers from his first day with Martin.