Mike Moon is in his second season with the Bengals in 2026, and his first in the role of assistant defensive line coach. He came to Cincinnati as a defensive assistant in 2025.
In 2025, his first season on an NFL coaching staff, Moon worked closely with a Bengals defensive line that featured several young pass rushers stepping into elevated roles. He helped third-year DE Myles Murphy lead the team with a career-high 5.5 sacks, while fifth-year DE Joseph Ossai matched his career-best total of five sacks. As a team, Cincinnati posted 22 sacks over its final eight games, the seventh-most in the NFL during that stretch. The Bengals also allowed 41.1 fewer rushing yards over the second half of the season (Weeks 11-18) compared to the first half (Weeks 1-9).
Moon came to Cincinnati from the University of Notre Dame, where he served as an assistant graduate coach from 2021-22, defensive assistant in '23 and senior defensive analyst in '24. Working under then-Notre Dame and current Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden in 2024, he helped the Fighting Irish rank second nationally both in points allowed (14.3 per game) and yards allowed (298.3 per game). Notre Dame finished with a 14-2 overall record, won the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, and advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Defensively, the Irish held 12 of their 16 opponents to 17 or fewer points.
Moon worked primarily with Notre Dame's linebackers in 2023, helping develop a unit that contributed to the nation's fourth-ranked passing defense (154.2 passing yards allowed per game). The Irish also ranked second nationally in opponent red zone scoring percentage (70.6).
As a graduate assistant with a focus on the defensive line in 2022, Moon helped Notre Dame average 2.92 sacks per game (15th in nation). In 2021, Moon's first year at Notre Dame, the Irish posted an 11-2 record, held seven of their opponents to fewer than 20 points and were ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press final poll.
Prior to Notre Dame, Moon spent four seasons (2017-20) at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. He served as a defensive quality control coach with a focus on linebackers in 2017, then spent the '18-20 seasons as a graduate assistant with a focus on the defensive line.
Moon transitioned into college coaching in 2015-16 as a student assistant at the University of Hawaii. He had previously spent five seasons (2010-14) coaching quarterbacks and special teams units at Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
Moon was born in Rancho Santa Margarita on Nov. 10, 1992. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Hawaii in 2017, then earned his master's in education from Old Dominion in '21.
Playing and coaching history: 2010-14—Assistant coach (AC), California high school ranks. 2015-16—Student assistant, Hawaii. 2017-20—Graduate assistant coach, Old Dominion. 2021-22—Graduate assistant coach, Notre Dame. 2023-24—AC, Notre Dame. 2025-present—AC, Cincinnati Bengals.
