[jwplayer 1DUxLeKd]
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor hears the fans.
The Bengals head coach off to a 3-18-1 start to his tenure after replacing Marvin Lewis says his culture-building approach can’t focus on quick solutions but instead the long-term goals.
Taylor had a press conference Wednesday and was directly asked if he had a message to fans who point out his coaching record so far:
“I really can’t worry about it. That’s part of being a fan. We want to win for this community because they want so badly to support a winner, and so I get it. But we have to make sure that we’re doing it the right way and that we’re not compromising quick fixes just for immediate success when we know they harm us as the season goes. Fans can be confident that we’re going to build this thing the right way, approach it the right way so that the payoff is going to be big long term. We want to win this week, and we want to win the next week, and the next week, and the next week. We want everyone to be happy because we’re winning. It makes our jobs easier, and it makes it a little more fun to get out there and do things. But we’re not going to compromise the way we approach things. And we know when we start winning, the fans will be there and support us. It’s such an awesome football city, and we can’t wait to make everybody very happy.”
It sounds good on paper and the Bengals have proven time and again to be a very patient organization. Taylor’s adamant his culture rebuild will work and it’ll show on the field in time.
The question is how patient will fans be? Rebuild or not, Taylor’s teams haven’t been able to put together wins even with many one-score game differentials.
At some point fans — and perhaps the organization itself — will need to start seeing progress in the win column too. Things are still undeniably developing on a lot of fronts for the Bengals and this year wasn’t about contending, but there’s an understandable, underlying frustration mounting for players and fans alike.