The season of speculation and interviews is coming to an end across the National Football League. With now five jobs down and three to go, the time for action with the remaining head coach vacancies is officially upon us.

It appears the Bengals are no different.

Signs point to a decision on the 10th head coach in franchise history nearing. As for who that coach will be, we don't know as the team is keeping everything close to the vest. But it appears the interviewing portion of the search is over as dominoes start to fall across the league.

That means top defensive candidates that played this past weekend – Indianapolis' Matt Eberflus and Dallas' Kris Richard – went without being brought in for an interview. The focus of the Bengals, along with the rest of the league, has centered around offense at all costs.

That was apparent when Green Bay hired 39-yard-old former Tennessee offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur. And shoved into the face of the NFL world when Kliff Kingsbury became the Arizona Cardinals head coach. Kingsbury, 39, coached Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, but had a 35-40 record at Texas Tech.

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Also, Tampa settled in on former Arizona coach Bruce Arians and his aggressive offensive style to take over. As for other spots, Baylor's Matt Rhule is being pursued, among others, to potentially bring his college offense to the New York Jets. Cleveland.com reports say signs point to offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens taking over as head coach.

The league is full of teams looking for their version of Matt Nagy (Chicago), Sean McVay (LA), Doug Pederson (Philadelphia) and Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco).

The young, offensive guru trend is very real. Only Denver (Chicago DC Vic Fangio) went defense.

Of the eight known interviews the Bengals conducted, only one had a defensive background and that was Vance Joseph.

As these positions fill up, that leaves everyone the Bengals' interviewed still on the board. Kansas City OC Eric Bieniemy (49 years old), Los Angeles Rams QB coach Zac Taylor (35) and passing game coordinator Shane Waldron (39), along with Tampa Bay OC Todd Monken (52) are the outside offensive candidates.

Internally, special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and assistant Hue Jackson all interviewed, as did Joseph.

The hiring committee of President Mike Brown, Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn, Vice President - Personnel Paul Brown, Vice President Troy Blackburn and Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin traveled to Los Angeles and Kansas City during the process of interviewing all the candidates.

Moving the process along now is important as all teams filling openings race to secure coordinators and assistants.

The Bengals are making their first head coach hire since Marvin Lewis joined in 2003 and lasted 16 years, becoming the winningest coach in franchise history. Lewis and the team parted ways on Dec. 31 after a third consecutive losing season.