For those in the media who were scoffing at the Browns hiring Freddie Kitchens, Zac Taylor may be getting too much credit where Kitchens wasn’t getting enough.
If proximity to Sean McVay is the main deciding factor then the Bengals got this right. If coaching experience mixed with creative play-calling and leadership intangibles are more important, this could be a disaster for the Bengals and Taylor. It’s funny how people around McVay are getting credit for his recent and short-lived success. While Sean McVay’s future is bright, does that mean that his situation can be replicated? Does one man’s success dictate that his colleagues will face the same fortune?
These are the long odds that the Bengals are betting. A gimmicky hire that is a shot in the dark to work out is not what a city with a young roster that is improving, an inconsistent yet serviceable QB and a fanbase that was on the edge of imploding last year need. If this hire works out then this article can gladly be filed away with the rest of the pundits who doubted this decision. Perhaps this is a new direction that Owner Mike Brown feels is necessary given the even-keel and vanilla approach Marvin Lewis brought to the Bengals for the last decade and a half. Marvin was stable and consistent, but what do we know about Zac Taylor? Not much, and that is the problem.
What does this hiring mean for the team? Does this signal the end for Andy Dalton or a renaissance? The highest level of coaching that Taylor has on his resume is as
The main differences between the hirings of Kitchens and Taylor are stark. Kitchens came from within the organization immediately after demonstrating acumen with the current roster whereas Taylor comes from a different organization on the West coast where most of the success can be attributed to McVay. Kitchens has been at the NFL level for over 12 seasons to Taylor’s 6. Kitchens has coached for Bill Parcels and was one of only a few coaches retained by Bruce Arians when he took over the Arizona Cardinals. Taylor has only coached for McVay and two Dolphins coaches Dan Campbell and Joe Philbin.
The point is, if Browns fans have any hesitation about hiring Kitchens, Bengals fans should be upset with a boom or bust pick at the end of the NFL season which left the cupboard bare of coaching talent to aid this first year head coach.