CINCINNATI
(AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals liked Zac Taylor the first time they
talked to him, but there was one overriding concern when they discussed
offering him their head coaching job. He's 35 with only a few games as a
coordinator on his NFL resume.
Would it be too much, too soon, to make him a head coach?
"Our big question was: Is he ready for this opportunity?" player personnel director Duke Tobin said.
Taylor convinced them during their two meetings, and the Bengals introduced him as their 10th head coach on Tuesday.
Having
answered the Bengals' overriding question, Taylor now gets to deal with
another, more persistent question that's confronted all of his
predecessors: Can this head coach get the Bengals to a place that none
of the others could reach? Or will he run into the same walls?
In
Cincinnati, it's always bigger than the head coach. In a league set up
to help struggling teams rise quickly, the Bengals have managed only
seven winning seasons in the last 28 years, a reflection on ownership.
Quarterback
Carson Palmer sensed the built-in walls and asked to be traded after
the 2010 season. During his 16 seasons in Cincinnati, coach Marvin Lewis
raised the organization to a competitive level but couldn't get it any
further.
Quarterbacks and coaches have come and gone, but the
futility has endured. Cincinnati's failure to win a playoff game in 28
years matches Washington for the fifth-longest in league history.
Dave
Shula, Bruce Coslet, Dick LeBeau and Lewis all came up short during the
streak of futility. Lewis finished 0-7, the worst postseason coaching
record in NFL history. Now, it's Taylor's turn.
He's not only
charged with trying to break through those barriers, but also winning
back fans who abandoned the team because of its reluctance to make
necessary changes.
How's that for a first NFL head coaching job?
"I know this will not be easy," Taylor said.
He
has to hire a coaching staff, a job made more difficult by the timing.
Under NFL rules, the Bengals couldn't hire him until his team was
eliminated from the playoffs. They got to interview him during the Rams'
bye weeks.
Taylor hasn't committed to a particular style of
defense. He's looking to overhaul an offense that will be on its third
coordinator in the last three seasons.
Taylor endorsed quarterback
Andy Dalton, saying he fits what he's trying to do with the offense.
Taylor intends to call the plays. He'll import features from the Rams'
offense to Cincinnati: "I think it would be silly to scrap it, so that
will be a big part of what we do."
He spoke repeatedly about establishing a culture.
"It's getting the right people and having high standards and holding people accountable," Taylor said.
The
Bengals have been through a lot of dysfunction lately. They fired their
offensive coordinator only two games into the 2017 season. Last year,
they fired their defensive coordinator midway through his first season.
They fielded the youngest team in Lewis' 16 seasons last year, and the
results weren't good.
Brown finally decided to replace Lewis when
attendance fell to the second-lowest level in the NFL. Fans' anger and
indifference tipped his hand.
"We had lost some of the faith in
our fan base," Brown said Tuesday, his first public comment about the
coaching change. "That was clear. That sent a loud message."
So, they decided to go in a very different direction with a young coach who will bring new ideas to a button-down organization.
Taylor
wore a three-piece suit to the news conference Tuesday, the first time
he's been so buttoned down. The session ended with Taylor posing for
photos with Brown, who joked with photographers as they snapped away.
"I keep looking for the flashbulbs," Brown said.