At this point last year, Zac Taylor was still a young head coach looking to prove himself.
When the Cincinnati Bengals opened training camp in 2021, Taylor’s career was still defined by his 6-25-1 record. At the time, Bengals owner Mike Brown said that Taylor has had a few years to get his feet on the ground and get established. With a roster completely remade with players that fit Taylor’s vision for a football team, Brown made it clear that the 2021 season was going to be critical in determining Taylor’s future.
Over the last eight months, Taylor led the Bengals to an AFC North title and to a Super Bowl. He received a contract extension that should keep him in Cincinnati through 2026.
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And now entering 2022, Taylor is a reigning Coach of the Year candidate with as much job security as any head coach in the NFL.
“I have learned so much over my first three years here that I couldn’t have possibly known in my first year,” Taylor said. “I imagine a lot of coaches who have been in this thing a long time would say they’re better coaches now than they were in their first five or 10 years that they were in this league. That’s my hope.”
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on Zac Taylor: 'I see a lot more comfort and confidence'
Entering 2022, Taylor is far from his old reputation as a young, inexperienced head coach. Now, he’s viewed as a forward thinker who set the right tone for the Bengals offense and in the Bengals locker room.
Now, Taylor has the confidence of a coach who pushed all the right buttons on the way to an AFC Championship. In the playoffs last year, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel’s clock mismanagement might have cost his team the game. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s offense had no answer to the second half adjustment by the Bengals defense.
As players like Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Jessie Bates III proved themselves in last year’s postseason, Taylor did the same thing.
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“Those games are enormous,” Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said. “Not only for (Taylor’s) own confidence, but for our team’s confidence that he’s going to put us in the right situation.”
“There is a sense of comfort, confidence and knowing the job having seen all the things that come across (his) desk,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “He has handled that multiple times and the flow of the offseason, the flow of training camp. I see a lot more comfort and confidence.”
How Zac Taylor took a step forward as Cincinnati Bengals head coach
Since 2019, Taylor has developed four key skills that let him take a big step forward as a coach.
Taylor gained more confidence in implementing a “less is more” schedule during the offseason and training camp. The Bengals had the fewest offseason practices in the NFL, and Taylor eliminated the conditioning test at the start of training camp this year. During the season, Taylor uses one of the lightest practice schedules in the league. Taylor has made injury prevention one of his biggest priorities, and the team’s overall health was one of the most important pieces of last season’s run.
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Taylor has more reps and experience as a play caller. Last December, he took the blame for a botched two-point conversion call against the Los Angeles Chargers and criticized his own decision-making when he called a run on second down in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers. Taylor called more plays that let Burrow take more chances after that game, and Burrow played the best football of his career.
Taylor has a clearer picture of his vision for the team and the types of players he wants to build around. Since 2019, the Bengals have strategically invested in stars at wide receiver, edge rusher and running back while prioritizing depth in the secondary and on the offensive line. Beyond that, Taylor has said he puts more value into “players who love football” and leadership skills than most other NFL teams.
And the coaches have credited Taylor for developing a deeper understanding of the players and the process the Bengals have on defense and special teams. Even though offense is Taylor’s focus, he’s more confident now with the decisions he makes in areas that didn’t use to be his expertise.
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“He has done a hell of a job getting the pulse of our team,” Simmons said. “It’s difficult for him as a head coach and the offensive playcaller to have established relationships with defensive players because he’s competing against them every day in practice. Yet he does a good job of juggling that.”
'He just feels like a head coach'
Callahan said he hasn’t noticed much of a difference in the way Taylor carries himself now that he has had success. One of Taylor’s biggest strengths before he had experience was his consistency. Callahan has never seen Taylor yell. Even when Taylor didn’t have all of the answers early in his coaching career, he tried to carry himself like he had been there before.
Four years later, Callahan said Taylor has the same consistency, plus more experience to back it up.
“He just feels like a head coach,” Callahan said. “He carries himself like one and he organizes himself like one. It’s been fun to see.”
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Even though Taylor is in a completely different position in 2022 than he was in 2021, he said it doesn’t feel like his life has changed. While Taylor has gone from being on the hot seat to having as much job security as any NFL head coach, he said he doesn’t want that to change the way he approaches his role on the team.
“I want to continue to improve upon mistakes that I’ve made, good decisions we’ve made, continue to make good decisions in certain areas,” Taylor said. “That’s part of growing as a person and as a coach. That’s my job, to do that so I can be accountable to our team and continue to put them in the best position possible.”
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