This is a great hire! Here's why.

[cincyhokie]

I'll admit that I was pulling for Bienemy for the HC hire. But Zac Taylor is a better hire. He might not end up being the better HC or even a good one. But this move is a huge deal.

1. We've been asking for the Bengals to take chances and think out of the box. They've done that in naming Taylor HC. It's a risk for sure.

2. This isn't about nailing it. There's a good chance that Taylor ends up being a failure here at HC. But if there's ANY semblance that the Bengals are moving in the direction we want them to, this is it.

3. He's going to be able to hire his own OC and DC. This is huge. Another set of moves that go along with hiring Taylor is letting go of Lazor and Hue. Old Bengals FO moves would suggest that stability and hurt feelings are more important than moving forward. Not this time.

4. What about free agency? Can the Bengals actually compete for a title without being aggressive in FA? No. Will they? Who knows. But until FA starts, what more can they do in terms of SHOWING they aren't afraid to take a risk in stepping above the Steelers, Ravens, and now the Browns? I doubt this is the end of the kind of aggressive moves they make. Could they stay the same in FA? Maybe. We'll see when it starts.

5. There's no way with Taylor coming from the Rams staff under McVey that he allows player "feelings" and "seniority" to get in the way of player accountability and putting the team first. Bringing in an older HC there'd be much more of a chance we'd see a Marvin-like approach with players.

6. Taylor was sought out during the season as a candidate by the Bengals and the league. I can't imagine that the Brown family woke up on January 1st and randomly were looking at coaches that they wanted to interview. They had their eye on this guy for awhile and I'm sure others in the league were as well. This isn't a random selection. 

This is the best thing we could have asked for. Even if Taylor falls on his face, which I don't think he will due to the Bengals having a solid player acquisition history, this move shows the Bengals are aware they need to move into the 21st century. And as a fan, that's what I want to see. I'd rather my team take chances and be aggressive than to play it safe and be content with 9-7.  

Again, even if this doesn't turn out to be perfect, it is the perfect move as we sit right now looking into the 2019 season. Will the Bengals follow this up with more aggressive moves? We'll see. 

[AMPHAR]

It’s a what have you done for me lately mentality. 

Can Taylor get the Bengals to this weekend of the season? Divisional Round.

Can he beat the Steelers? 

Then if he raises the bar it becomes a new level of goals.

I have no idea if this guy is good or bad.  Happy with offensive focus hire. 

[ArmyBengal]

5 hours ago, AMPHAR said:

Can Taylor get the Bengals to this weekend of the season? Divisional Round.

This part is THE most important in my opinion. If Taylor can’t do that, he’s no better than Melvin.

[Stripes]

I'm pleased by it, assuming it is properly finalized (part of me is concerned about the degree of certainty in the air when nothing is signed) given that it is representative of concrete change and reliance upon the outside.  They didn't sit on their hands here like many of us were afraid they would.  Whether it represents a meaningful change in the behavior of the organization remains to be seen, because there are a number of ways this can go:

1. Taylor's teams consistently fail and finish with losing records, and he departs after three seasons or so.  That precedent exists already with this franchise re: the '90s.  If that happens it isn't the end of the world.  They had to take a chance and I can forgive a flop as long as it is handled expediently.

2.  Taylor's teams mimic Marvin's in their level of success.  They win sometimes, get a few exciting playoff berths, but make no deep runs.  If this happens, I want him gone just as quickly as I would in the previous item.  That culture cannot be allowed to continue.  Wild Card losses don't cut it.  If he gets 6+ seasons without a playoff win, then nothing has really changed.

3.  They win a g-damned playoff game, at least one, and play football in the  mystical unicorn that is the divisional round.  That sounds great.  What happens if he is Jason Garrett though, and he gets to *that* level once or twice but never beyond it?  That wasn't good enough for Houston when they were beating us in the WC round.  Is it good enough for Cincinnati?

4. AFC Championship and Super Bowl contention.  Obviously that'd be swell.

I am just rambling here and I am not sure what my point is.  I just wonder if there's truly a culture shift at work even as I observe the evidence of it.  I am too traumatized by this shit to have confidence.

[cincyhokie]

Jay Glazer on the Taylor hire.

"He's a guy the Bengals actually targeted for weeks toward the end of the season as they knew they were moving on from Marvin Lewis. They did a ton of backchannel work on him.

When you talk to people on the Rams, you learn he is a football guy non-stop. When he went in and interviewed some places, I was told when he talked about offense -- what he was able to use from Sean McVey's offense plus some twists he put on it -- other teams were blown away. He commanded the room in the interview process. He's a guy who is very family-oriented, and he's one of these 24-7 football guys who can connect with both players and coaches, both old and young. Cincinnati, I thought, was going to be a hard place to get a good hire. If they do make this official, they'll end getting one of the hidden gems in this coaching class."

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/1/16/18185229/significant-praise-for-soon-to-be-bengals-head-coach-zac-taylor

[AMPHAR]

I thought I read somewhere that Mike wasn’t even in the interviews.