Although Zac Taylor‘s 4-23-1 record as Bengals head coach represents one of the worst all-time marks for a coach to start his career, he may not be in jeopardy of losing his job.
Not much buzz has emerged about Taylor being on the hot seat, according to Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. Unsurprisingly, Joe Burrow looms at the center of this discussion.
Rumors prior to the Bengals using the No. 1 overall pick centered around the Ohio native being uncertain about the Cincinnati franchise. Despite the severe knee injury the former LSU superstar suffered, Burrow has expressed fondness for his Bengals situation and the franchise’s future, per Fowler and Graziano.
It also does not hurt the Bengals are known for their patience. This was best displayed through Marvin Lewis lasting 16 years as Cincinnati’s head coach without winning a playoff game and David Shula winning 19 games in four-plus seasons. However, the Bengals did fire Dick LeBeau after two-plus seasons, bringing in Lewis. Should Taylor earn a third season, it would stand to reason his seat would be scorching-hot come 2021.
Burrow’s 10-game QBR figure ranks 24th, and the 2019 Heisman winner was in the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year prior to going down. The Bengals, however, have ranked 30th and 29th in points scored under Taylor, who came to Cincinnati with limited play-calling experience. And among coaches who have coached since the 2019 season, Taylor’s four wins rank last. But he may benefit from multiple factors and receive a third year.
The difference between players & coaches is coach’s contracts are guaranteed. Hot or cold seat, they’ll be paid in full.
You place any young coach into the situation that Taylor inherited and the record is not going to be good initially. The AFC North has become the league’s toughest division. The Bengals have limited talent but Taylor has them playing hard every game (as evidenced by their scrap against the Dolphins).
Bengals are rebuilding and have not brought in enough talent to win yet. Not a knock on Taylor, actually surprised Burrow did that well with that horrible OL
It’s going to take a few seasons for the Bengals to become contenders but you have to start by changing attitudes. I think Taylor is doing that and convincing players that they can improve. Until he fails with a legitimately talented roster there is no reason to replace him.
I hate that excuse. ‘It takes years to develop culture/talent’. If true, then why are the ‘Fins looking at the playoffs this year? Gutted the roster last year and winning now, right?
Because, JJ, most of the time that isn’t how it works. If you take that approach, you’ll end up losing more than winning. Things do take time to develop.
With that said, it is necessary for us to evaluate each situation individually. In the case of the Dolphins, the team was not as bad as its record. It was just severely mismanaged by Gase. Even then, that pre-Flores team was better than the Bengals were when Taylor took over. I am definitely not saying that Zac Taylor is the answer. 100% not. But rebuilds do take time. Not every situation is the same.
Why are fins pushing playoffs this year?
Have you looked at their schedule and division this year?
Bengals play 6 games against Steelers, Browns, and Ravens (toughest division in football).
The dolphins get to play the jets twice a year and have a chance to beat a no Brady patriots team next couple years.
“ It also does not hurt the Bengals are known for their patience. This was best displayed through Marvin Lewis lasting 16 years as Cincinnati’s head coach without winning a playoff game and David Shula winning 19 games in four-plus seasons.”
This is a flattering way of saying Brown is so cheap he refuses to fire a coach he would still have to pay for.
Look folks , life long Bengal fan here. I’m not one of those guys that can say, I’ve had enough of this and wake up a fan of some other team. It’s been entrenched in me from growing up, season tickets for years. That said , it is very painful to think that a coach can be successful at his job 10% of the time and keep his job. If we were only 10% effective at our jobs we’d be gone. The guy is clearly out coached every week. He looks over matched. He was part of the Sean McVey tree that was the “cool” thing at the time. He is not Sean McVey. Not even close. He lacks creativity and experience. I want someone with a name and a pedigree. Mike Zimmer should have been the one they kept. I’ll take Dungi, Herm Edward’s, John Foxx … I am sick of cheap mediocrity being ok. It’s exhausting to be a Bengal fan. Everyone else on here making excuses for Taylor are wrong. We will never ever make the playoffs with this guy. He looks like a scared kitten on the sidelines and avoids the tough questions in press conferences. I’m sure he’s a a fine assistant QB coach but he hasn’t put in the work. He’s overmatched every week. I’m sick everyone being ok with a coach that’s effective less than 10% of the time.
I agree with you brother. This has been brutal last 2 years. Zack is not the guy for Bengals. We have huge potential along with Burrow and all will go into the waste if we keep making excuses and lingering with Zack around!!!
I’ve never supported the Taylor choice as coach. I think Bienemy should have gotten the job.
Yes. And if Mike Brown wants to turn this thing around he should hire Bienemy this off-season.
Taylor was a risky signing. Anyone that’s watched them week in and week out knows the kid is in way over his head.
The offensive line play has been unforgivable.
The hollow excuse that the talent isn’t there is just dead wrong. Aside from the O-line (and now at QB), there is talent all over the field.
I agree with you on the shakiness of the Taylor hire. That cycle, a lot of people complained about Bienemy being passed over and pointed to other hires as proof that there needed to be a change. I remember picking out the Taylor hire as the only one where I thought for sure that it just didn’t make sense. I mean, you can never say for sure who is or isn’t the best person for the job before seeing them do it (Matt LaFleur is a good example of proving that expectation wrong), but I was very perplexed by the Taylor hire. That was the one job I thought Bienemy supporters really had a case to complain about the most. Not saying that Bienemy was a shoe-in or even was the best choice, but he did seem like clearly a better candidate than Zac Taylor.
“I’ll take Dungi, Herm Edward’s, John Foxx”
I agree with pretty much everything you said, but I find it amusing that you managed to spell all three of their names wrong. I do not mean this as a dig at you (not a great speller myself), I just found this hilarious for some reason.
Lol , yeah … I get it. No offense taken. Trust me if it was a formal message and not some message board full of people I’ll never meet with fake names … it would be right. Lol Iza guud speller
I think it depends. If they could reunite Joe Brady with Burrow or land another brilliant offensive mind, go for it. However, a change should not be made just for the sake of making a change for stability’s sake.
However, Taylor does deserve to be on the hot seat. I understand he has not been given a lot to work with regarding the offensive line and will give him a pass on the offensive end. That said, there is no reason the defense should be nearly this bad. With players like Atkins, Bates, Jackson, Bell, Lawson, and Hubbard, I feel some improvement should be visible. While the team was competitive toward the beginning, I feel that was more Burrow than anything. I don’t think Taylor is necessarily a bad coach per se, but I’m not sure he’s the answer either. I stand by my original statement
Add in that the offensive line is awful and Mixon has been out a majority of the season.
I’m very surprised and shocked to see what people are saying here. Zack should be shown the door this season. Come on people you know this, if it was any one of those black coaches he would have been gone by now. Marvin had started with promising record and stayed consistent. We were contender every season at least during the regular season. Except OL, the team is full of talents. Because of Zack we have our star (Burrow) on the rehab table. And Zack won’t show any empathy or regrets. A good leader knows how to properly utilize talents and bad leader drives them to the ground. For example, Dunlap is making plays for Seattle rather Bangles now. White man always given more chances and more time and no difference here. Let’s show him the door as soon as possible, before he handicap our Star QB and drive this organization to the ground for another decade!!!
While we agree to some extent , leave race out of it. It has nothing at all to do with someone with a 10% winning percentage. Marvin had some crap seasons also. His skin tone doesn’t matter. There has been white coaches already fired this year .. suet Anthony Lynn for the chargers clearly keeps finding ways to lose and stink up the joint. Atlanta’s coach, Houston’s coach both were white and held accountable. Please spare us the nonsense.
This is directed to the Bengals and the Reds.
You cannot take two franchises not used to winning lately or ever and bring a manager or coach and that’s never coached before. The results are easy to predict
I’ll give you that … not a David Bell fan either. Should have kept Dusty … at least he kept us in the mix …
I always liked Dusty. He did make a few head scratcher type decisions, but overall he knew how to handle the players. He wasn’t very popular with the analytics guys, though. That was probably a big reason he lost his support, albeit a shaky one by itself.
As a lifelong bengals fan I know for a fact if cheapskate brown hired a coach that is popular and a winner elseware the bengals would be better overnight. Burrow is great, I have never seen a web with a horrible line drive his team g do ownfield like he did. Once they have a popular coach and a better line this team will win.