Bengals cornberbacks coach Kevin Coyle, known for his collegiate enthusiasm, clearly was down last Tuesday.

        For five hours, Coyle didn't know the whereabouts of his New York firefighter brother.

        Harry Coyle is a member of Ladder Co.18 in Manhattan. He was in the north tower of the World Trade Center when the south tower went down. He received the order to evacuate and had been outside only 30 seconds when the north tower collapsed.

        More than 200 New York firefighters are still missing in the wreckage.

        “He was with a group of six guys in his company,” Kevin Coyle said Monday, the first day he has spoken of his brother's close call. “They were running down the street with the smoke and all the stuff chasing them. They dove under a fire truck and were there until everything settled.”

        Kevin Coyle, 45, in his first season with the Bengals, has been a collegiate defensive coordinator at Syracuse, Maryland and Fresno State. He has coached for Bengals defensive coordinator Mark Duffner in college.

        Coyle, his family and his wife, Louise, are natives of Staten Island. They know other people who are still listed as missing in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers.

        He told his players last Tuesday that he didn't know where his younger brother was.

        “My heart went out to him,” said cornerback Rodney Heath, whose father is a retired Cincinnati Police officer. “I can understand where (Coyle) is coming from. It was like, "Let's put this football on the side,' but he went through it.”

        Coyle is still energetic and vocal on the field. Off the field, he has been more subdued.

        “What it's done for a lot of people, it makes you look seriously at your priorities and what is the most important thing in life,” he said. “Certainly our work is very important to us, but our families and our friends, the people we love are the most important. It's sad that things like this happen before we appreciate all that.”

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