Tag: zac taylor

Bengals just hired away longtime Saints assistant coach in another lateral move

The Cincinnati Bengals announced they hired Michael Hodges away from the New Orleans Saints. The longtime linebackers coach made a lateral move:

Last one out, turn off the lights. The New Orleans Saints have lost a few coaches to lateral moves around the league as they continue to search for a new head coach, who will want to build their own staff — most notably losing offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to the Seattle Seahawks, where he’ll have the same position.

But here’s another departure. The Cincinnati Bengals announced Monday that they have hired longtime Saints linebackers coach Michael Hodges for the same role on Zac Taylor’s staff. Hodges had been on staff with New Orleans since 2017, and he’s highly regarded around the league. It’s just a shame most of the linebackers he developed went on to play their best football somewhere else; guys like Alex Anzalone, Kaden Elliss, and of course Zack Baun.

Maybe the Bengals will do a better job retaining talent after Hodges has developed it. Whoever the Saints pick as head coach, he’ll now need to replace the offensive coordinator and the linebackers coach, but that was probably going to be the case anyway. These are just the first of many losses we should expect in the weeks ahead.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Underrated strength made Al Golden a no-brainer for Bengals

This detail about Al Golden to the Bengals doesn’t get talked about much, but is really interesting.

New Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden arrives with some key strengths of his own. 

His predecessor, Lou Anarumo, had an almost uncanny ability to throw out a by-the-opponent amoeba defense and give quarterbacks as Patrick Mahomes fits.

Golden, after a stint at Notre Dame, has a rather unique strength of his own, as pointed out by Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

What also makes Golden attractive to the NFL is Notre Dame plays an independent slate of teams, meaning they have to be ready for every kind of offense rather than cookie-cutter schemes that fit into a league.

RELATED: Bengals’ approach to hiring Al Golden draws mixed reviews

There’s a degree to where this will be helpful for the Bengals and Golden. Bonus points, of course, because he was already on staff with the Bengals and knows the AFC North well, too.

Golden has other things going for him, of course. He had a proven track record for developing talent in Cincinnati as the linebackers coach of Logan Wilson and others.

That built-in understanding of Zac Taylor and all levels of the Bengals doesn’t hurt either, which explains why it feels like the team never had sights on another serious candidate.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals’ search for defensive coordinator takes important next step

Zac Taylor and the Bengals get closer to finding their newest hire.

Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals haven’t done much to hide their intentions when it comes to the team’s next defensive corodsintoer. 

The transparent, narrow search to fill the position has always obviously centered on Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden. Those plans took another step on Monday night.

In a super-obvious postgame report after the national title game, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Golden has “emerged” as the top candidate (in the same way the sun “emerges” each morning, anyway).

Golden has repeatedly shot down questions about taking the job with Taylor and the Bengals, but only while attempting to keep focus on Notre Dame. Early in the process, the Bengals interviewed other names, but they felt like a formality.

With Golden now free to wrap things up with the Fighting Irish, the timetable, as explained by The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.:

 

Golden left a very positive impression on the Bengals during his recent run with the team, which included coaching up linebackers such as Germaine Pratt.

Considering developing talent has been an issue on that side of the ball in recent years, getting him back is an attempt to right that side of the ship.

Barring a shocker, this is just a matter of time.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals’ Zac Taylor reveals what he’s looking for in new defensive coordinator

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has some key things in mind for Lou Anarumo’s replacement.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor now begins the hiring search for a new defensive coordinator after firing Lou Anarumo (and a handful of other coaches).

While the top Bengals defensive coordinator candidates are major names, Taylor told reporters on Monday that many things will go into the hiring process.

“That’s the process you go through now. I know everyone wants answers on exactly what it’s going to look like. I can’t provide that today,” Taylor said. “I certainly have a vision for what I want it to look like. We’ll go through the process of finding the right candidates, and evaluating them, and then finding the right fit. And then from there, how do these players fit with what we’re doing?”

Perhaps most interesting of all?

Taylor made it clear that it doesn’t necessarily have to be an on-the-rise coordinator and that he understands a large degree of experience might make sense for the role because his team is in win-now mode.

In other words, Bengals fans who have wishlists topped by names like Dennis Allen and Robert Saleh aren’t necessarily being unrealistic.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Making the case for and against Bengals firing Zac Taylor

What should the Bengals go with Zac Taylor?

The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t likely to fire head coach Zac Taylor after his team missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

But there are some compelling reasons for and against the idea after what has been a wild ride of ups and downs for the franchise since his arrival in 2019.

 

The case for firing Zac Taylor

Taylor is now 46–52–1 as a head coach in the NFL coming off a season in which he had an MVP-level player (Joe Burrow), a Triple Crown winner (Ja’Marr Chase) and a DPOTY performance (Trey Hendrickson).

Even worse, Taylor is 17-36 in one-score games. He’s just 13-23 against the AFC North.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s just 1-11 over the first two weeks of a season. The team started 1-4 this year. 1-3 last year. 0-2 in 2022. 1-1 in 2021, the win in overtime. 0-2-1 in 2020. Technically, 0-11 in 2019.

Taylor was a developmental coach when the Bengals hired him, which was fine. But the development hasn’t been there (a quarterback equivalent would have been benched long ago). The lack of readiness, in-game decisions and results just aren’t there.

In the end, Taylor is the head coach. If, for example, Lou Anarumo’s defense isn’t working because it leans too much on lost-a-step veterans, it’s his job to step in and make a change. Draft picks on both sides of the ball, such as Cam Taylor-Britt, aren’t panning out, which at least partially falls on him, too.

Were the Bengals to move on, they would be a top destination for head coach candidates. Hanging on to him runs the risk of wasting Burrow’s window while making excuses that are reminiscent about hanging on to Andy Dalton (or Marvin Lewis) longer than they probably should have.

 

The case against firing Zac Taylor

Obviously, some of this isn’t Taylor’s fault. He was tasked with one of the biggest rebuilds of the last decade and continues to deal with a stingy front office.

A front office that is notoriously small, often cheap and stubborn in its ways. Hence, letting Jessie Bates walk and DJ Reader, getting a trade request from Hendrickson and failing to get Chase’s deal done. There’s a reason Burrow is in press conferences putting pressure on that front office to extend Tee Higgins. There’s a reason Taylor made Burrow-Chase-Higgins the captains for the coin flip over the five-game run.

Taylor’s poor record is inflated by a lost tanking season and Burrow’s untimely injuries and sheer bad luck of never having a normal summer, too.

While Dalton-like in its reasoning, there is a risk that a new head coach is a dud in how they mesh with the family-like front office and how it runs things, wasting more Burrow-Chase-Higgins seasons. That front office could also limit the team’s candidates for the job, too.

Taylor also, obviously, gets the credit for the four winning seasons and Super Bowl run. While they remain vague on the process as a shared thing, he’s an offensive-based coach heading up an elite offense.

And in the end, he gets the credit for overhauling the culture. One can argue an elite defense and a special young passer carried the franchise to the Super Bowl. But they can’t argue against the modernization that came under his supervision and the clear impact he has on the players in the building after he scoured away the apathy of the previous regime.

 

Verdict

Not how they do it in Cincinnati comes up often and will here, too. It would be a stunner if the Bengals started fresh. The case for letting Taylor go is super compelling and would make sense for a lot of organizations. And if the team starts slow again next year…there will be a lot of told you so going around the fanbase.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals’ Zac Taylor provides Chase Brown injury update

What the Bengals coach had to say about the injury to his star running back.

Exiting the Cincinnati Bengals‘ thrilling Week 17 win over the Denver Broncos, one of the biggest concerns around the team was the injury suffered by running back Chase Brown.

In a strange coaching decision from Zac Taylor, Brown was instructed to go down without scoring a touchdown in order to burn clock late in regulation. Brown did so and got hurt, causing him to get replaced by Khalil Herbert for the rest of the game.

After the contest, Taylor revealed that Brown suffered an ankle sprain, though the severity remains an unknown.

With Zack Moss lost for the season weeks ago, the Bengals are precariously thin at running back. Herbert is only on the roster because the team needed a rare in-season trade to find help.

If Brown needs to miss the season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers that will still have the Bengals’ playoff hopes on the line, it will be a Herbert-Trayveon Williams combo in the backfield.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Zac Taylor explains huge coaching gaffe from Broncos win

What were Bengals coaches thinking late in Week 17?

Late in an eventual overtime classic win over the Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown slid (and got hurt) instead of scoring a touchdown.

Clearly, the idea was for the Bengals to burn the rest of the clock, score at the end of regulation, and secure the victory.

But that’s far, far from what happened—without burning much clock at all, Joe Burrow dove head-first into the endzone. The Broncos then marched down the field and tied the game, sending things to overtime.

After the game, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed that the coaching staff instructed Brown to slide. However, the injury timeout “changes everything” for the approach.

Taylor went on to say that “nothing was easy” for the offense in the red zone against that Denver defense. So, while draining Denver’s timeouts and the game clock and trying to score on later downs might’ve worked, they were content to go ahead and just score.

Still, situational game planning has been a recurring problem for the Bengals. This wasn’t the only instance on Saturday, either — kicking a field goal on a third-and-three that wound up missed while taking the ball out of the MVP-caliber Joe Burrow’s hands was just as bad.

Things worked out for the Bengals this time. But a breakout running back getting hurt while being instructed to slide, only for the coaching staff to risk the franchise passer on a sneak to score right after, is never going to escape criticism.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Zac Taylor’s Bengals injury updates offer mixed bag for Week 17

Bengals injury updates are all over the place this week.

The Cincinnati Bengals offered some good and bad news on the injury front before the team takes on the Denver Broncos in Week 17.

Some good news? Orlando Brown Jr. should be back out there at left tackle, according to Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.

But that’s sort of a mixed bag as it means more offensive line shakeups. Cody Ford will go back to left guard in place of Cordell Volson, making for yet another shakeup along the line.

Another 50-50 thing? Breakout rookie right tackle Amarius Mims will be out there, but he’s dealing with a broken hand. While good he’s out there, it’s hard to say how much the injury might limit his play.

Elsewhere on the injury report, Tee Higgins is questionable with ankle and knee injuries. And budding defensive end Joseph Ossai is also questionable due to an illness. Sheldon Rankins will miss yet another game with an illness, too.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s fate hinted at in new report

An insider reveals what the plan is for the Bengals this offseason.

How the Cincinnati Bengals will respond to what has been a lost season despite an MVP-like showing from Joe Burrow could say much about the organization’s future.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is right at the center of such a response, of course.

According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, though, the Zac Taylor hot seat watch can slow down — there’s a feeling within the building in Cincinnati that the issues started up at the top.

“One thing about Zac Taylor is that he’s extremely well-liked,” Schultz told Colin Cowherd, “by the people and players that matter in that building. That helps him a lot. What also helps him is the fact that ownership did not give the Bengals the right opportunity to begin this season. They could have paid Trey Hendrickson, but they didn’t. They tagged Tee Higgins. Most importantly, they got to the goal line, the one-yard line with Ja’Marr Chase.”

Well-versed Bengals fans already knew these points. Failing to do a long-term deal with Higgins was expected. Now it seems to be going the other way already because of the failed season.

What wasn’t expected was botching a golden opportunity to get Chase’s big-money extension out of the way. Now the price goes up and they’ll suffer elsewhere on the roster because of it.

Tack on compounding losses of Jessie Bates, DJ Reader and others, plus a miserable track record in recent drafts (first-rounders Myles Murphy and Dax Hill can’t get on the field or have made position changes, etc.) and the miscues to get here have been immense.

What matters now is if this is just chatter or actually spurs organizational change. To their credit, the Bengals have done a good job of modernizing in many ways during the Burrow era.

Whether that next happens to the drafting process and how they pay players while constructing the roster will decide whether the contention window has slammed shut and they have another disgruntled franchise passer or if this was just merely a one-off whoops our bad season.

Either way, it sounds like Zac Taylor is safe.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Zac Taylor provides injury updates on key Bengals stars

The Bengals had a long list of injury updates before Week 16 vs. Browns.

The Cincinnati Bengals had some eyebrow-raising injury listings during the week before the team’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

But Bengals head coach Zac Taylor gave the all-clear on the two biggest items.

When it comes to Joe Burrow’s injury, Taylor said the knee issue that had him limited all week wasn’t a concern.

As for Tee Higgins’ injury, Taylor said the same thing after Higgins was limited two days and rested another due to a knee injury.

Taylor’s most notable one-liner on these topics: “We’re in management mode at this point.”

Not management, though, is the concussion protocol process for guard Alex Cappa. He’ll have to pass final tests to be able to play on Sunday. Ditto for Orlando Brown Jr., who is also listed as questionable after the re-aggravtion of his knee injury at the start of the month.

Those issues up front could mean Cody Ford starts on the left edge and potentially rookie Matt Lee gets the nod at right guard.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]