‘We’ve been breaking the rule for eight years’ – Bengals HC Zac Taylor opens up about new NFL rule he’s been working around all this time
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has never before thrown a challenge flag in his seven years in Cincinnati. That responsibility has always fallen on chief of coaching staff Doug Rosfeld’s shoulders, and now it’s completely legal in accordance to NFL rules.
Starting this season, the NFL will allow head coaches to designate a member of their sideline staff to throw the red challenge flag.
As first reported by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, coaches have to inform officials prior to the start of games if he is to delegate that responsibility to someone on his staff.
The rule change will impact some teams more than others, but the Cincinnati Bengals will keep operations the same. It just so happens that those operations were technically illegal leading up to this point.
Bengals have never had Zac Taylor throwing the challenge flag
Bengals coach Zac Taylor has never before thrown a challenge flag in his seven years in Cincinnati. That responsibility has always fallen on chief of coaching staff Doug Rosfeld’s shoulders.
Rosfeld will continue throwing the flag, under Taylor’s orders, and Taylor himself admits the new rule comes at a surprise to him.
“We’ve been breaking the rule for eight years,” Taylor joked to reporters Tuesday morning. “Because I’ve never thrown the challenge flag. Doug [Rosfeld]’s always thrown the challenge flag, and they know that. They ask you that in pregame, ‘who’s got the flag?’ So it’s never been an issue. I didn’t even know it was frowned upon, I guess, and I know that there’s other coaches in the league; I’m not the only one that’s done that.”
The new rule wasn’t even announced during the annual league meetings this year. It’s almost inconsequential compared to other pressing matters, and considering Taylor has never been reprimanded for delegating that responsibility before it could be officially delegated, it seems like a non-issue.
But Taylor had wisecracks about it now that he knows he’s on the other side.
“I saw that they implemented a new rule,” Taylor said. “Maybe we get a retroactive fine or something.”
Why Taylor has always had Rosfeld throwing the red flag
Taylor has had Rosfeld on his staff since the beginning back in 2019. Prior to the Bengals, Rosfeld was the head football coach at Cincinnati’s Moeller High School for one year (2018), and was named GCL Coach of the Year. His working relationship with Taylor began in 2016 when his three-year run as the director of player development at the University of Cincinnati (2015-17) overlapped with Taylor’s lone season as Cincy’s offensive coordinator in 2016.
Rosfeld is always next to Taylor on the sidelines, waiting to toss the flag on the field.
“It’s easier for me,” Taylor said. “I feel better with Doug having it, and I could take it from him and probably do the same thing.”
It will continue in 2026, now officially a part of the rules.
