There’s a line when it comes to Zac Taylor, and a new NFL head coach ranking disrespectfully crosses it
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is worthy of criticism after seven years on the job, but pronouncing him as one of the worst coaches in the NFL is downright incorrect.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is entering arguably the most important season of his career.
He’ll have plenty of doubters along the way.
The NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal show conducted a head coaches draft that acted as a ranking from 1-32 with The Athletic’s jourdan Rodrigue and The Read Optional’s Ollie Connolly. Taylor didn’t get picked until No. 28, effectively putting him in the bottom five coaches of the league.
Taylor was the lone AFC North coach who wasn’t fired at the end of last season. He’s been in Cincinnati since 2019, making him the fourth-longest tenured coach in the league in a tie with Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur. He also sports a 5-2 postseason record, and is one of two active coaches to have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs since Patrick Mahomes was drafted.
And yet, the only coaches below Taylor in these rankings are newly-hired, first-time coaches, and New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn. That feels like unwarranted disrespect.
Zac Taylor’s career resume is better than a bottom-five coach
Taylor’s resume is far from perfect, but it does warrant a better NFL head coach ranking than No. 28 out of 32.
Four out of Taylor’s seven seasons have resulted in winning records. One of those featured a major injury to quarterback Joe Burrow when he missed the final seven games of the 2023 campaign. Cincinnati managed to win nine games that year thanks to the offense evolving under backup QB Jake Browning.
Taylor deserves credit for being a facilitator of that evolution.
Yes, the vast majority of Taylor’s winning has come with Burrow healthy. QBs are the most important individuals in the sport, including coaches. It is much harder to win with below average QB play and elite coaching compared to the inverse if there are debilitating weakness elsewhere on the roster.
The Bengals have had a debilitating defense for most of Taylor’s tenure. Does he deserve blame as the offensive play-caller for the ineptitude of the other side of the ball? That’s a nuanced discussion, but it’s fair to relieve Taylor of at least some of that heat.
Going back to the postseason, Taylor’s been able to beat other notable names in the sport in the most important games, even when Burrow wasn’t his most efficient self. Mike Vrabel, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, and Sean McDermott have all fallen to Cincinnati before having to shake Taylor’s hand with triple zeroes on the clock.
Reality check with Zac Taylor
This case isn’t to promote Taylor as one of the best coaches in the sport, despite his several years on the job or playoff win percentage. The Bengals have fallen short several times in critical moments with Burrow playing at a high level. Taylor’s crunch-time decision making has had its fair share of “WTF” moments.
There’s 22 coaches left from last year, and 10 new ones. Most of those 10 have never been a HC at the NFL level before.
Are we really on board with claiming Taylor is worse than 20 of the 22 incumbents he’s a part of? He belongs higher than that. Questions about his impact and effectiveness can still linger, but he has earned at least some level of respect.
This is straight up crossing the line of disrespect.