CINCINNATI – The Bengals have confirmed the continuity of Zac Taylor as head coach and Duke Tobin as player personnel director, as announced by owner Mike Brown on Monday. The decision comes after a season where the Bengals failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year. The absence of Joe Burrow, the team’s star quarterback, who missed nine games due to a toe injury that required surgery, was a key factor in the team’s performance, which ended with a record of 6-11.
Brown added that the main focus is to build a team that consistently competes at the highest level, with the goal of winning championships. He trusts that Taylor and Tobin are the right leaders to guide the team forward, highlighting their ability to build and lead competitive teams. The owner trusts their plans and hopes to return to the desired level of success. In his seven seasons, Taylor has achieved two playoff appearances (2021 and 2022) and is the only coach in franchise history to reach the conference championship game multiple times. It’s not clear how much time Taylor has left on his current contract, although it was previously announced that he was under contract until 2026. Taylor, with 116 games coached, is the third-longest tenured coach in the franchise, behind Marvin Lewis (256 games) and Sam Wyche (127 games). In seven years, Taylor has an overall record of 52-63-1 during the regular season and 5-2 in the postseason. Tobin, the Bengals’ de facto general manager, has been the director of player personnel since 2002. During those 24 seasons, the team has a record of 185-199-4 (5-9 in playoffs).“We entered the season with high expectations, after four consecutive winning seasons with leaders who led us to a Super Bowl and two AFC championship games. We know this season has been frustrating and disappointing. The results did not meet our standards, and missing the playoffs again demonstrates that there is more work to be done,” Brown said in a statement.
Mike Brown
