Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - AFC North Head Coaches Set: Did Bengals Get It Right With Zac Taylor?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The coaching carousel has stopped spinning in the AFC North. And is that Taylor the best coach? Let's break it down. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day, the number one sports podcast network in the land. He's James Rep. I'm Jake. Let's go. We've been locked on Bengals on this channel since 2016, your best one-stop shop to consistently get all of the Bengals news analysis you need to keep up with your favorite team. Every dayers this week have heard us talk about the Bengals needs on both sides of the ball, where we're worried that the Bengals might not see it the same way. And that has been where we've gotten to at this point this week. And now the Cleveland Browns have announced their head coaching higher going. with Todd Munkin, a guy that has had Bengals' interest in the past, has obviously been in the division, and the musical chairs have settled for head coaches in the AFC North, which means we can take a look at the question as to whether or not,

Starting point is 00:01:21 Zach Taylor is the best head coach in the AFC North, or if not, where he stacks up, and whether this idea of continuity that the Bengals are preaching, the only team in the division not to change its coaching staff, this off season will hold up and be an advantage for them in 2026. The Browns news, though, James, as always, is dramatic. So it's Todd Munkin at head coach and Jim Schwartz immediately throwing a fit and every national reporter immediately taking to social media as soon as they find out to let everyone know how upset Jim Schwartz was with being passed up. It sounds like he thought

Starting point is 00:01:59 he was a real candidate for this job. And it wasn't just like, Like, we're going to fire a head coach, but whoever we bring in, we're going to make sure we keep Jim Schwartz in some capacity. Now, he's still under contract, so they have to work that out. But of course, up in Cleveland, it's dramatic. Yeah, for sure. It is. And it's surprising.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And look, I think Todd Monkin is a good coach. And he helped Lamar Jackson. There's a lot of people that don't think he helped Lamar because of how it ended. He helped Lamar Jackson and think about this Ravens offense when the Bengals have had to deal with them over the past couple of things. years. Like Todd Munkin was the O.C. during that time. And that's three out of those four times didn't go well for the Bengals. So, especially when it came to stopping the Ravens are stopping anyone for that matter. So obviously the Bengals still have plenty of questions there. But when it comes to the Browns, like, if you're them,

Starting point is 00:02:57 and really you're the Bengals and you're looking at the Browns. And it's like, all right, well, what's the Brown's path back to relevance? And it would be fine. running the right quarterback and maximizing that quarterback. Not only did they hire a 60-year-old coach that is probably only going to get one chance, had a really bad experience in Cleveland. I was up there in Cleveland when he was the OC for the Browns in 2019 with Freddie Kitchens, who's the worst head coach in NFL history. And so being close to the worst head coach in NFL history, I don't think Todd is going to be that.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But is he going to be the best head coach in the division? in two years, right? Is he the guy that's going to find the quarterback that brings the Browns? And the other part of it's huge. Like if Jim Schwartz leaves, that's a huge win for the Bengals. It's a huge win for Joe Burrow. It's a huge win because the thing, the thorn in the Bengals side when it comes to the Browns, it's not their offense.

Starting point is 00:03:55 It's not worrying about how many points they're going to score. It's keeping Joe Burrow upright and not having to try to scratch and claw your way to a 19 to 17 win every time we play the Cleveland Brown. So look, I think there are a lot of people laughing at this higher. I know I certainly did initially. I do think he's a good coach, but if it costs them Jim Schwartz, it's a huge win for Joe Burrow and the Bengals. It feels like another lateral move.

Starting point is 00:04:23 And we've seen a few of them around the NFL this year. I think two of them in the division. I think Mike McCarthy is largely a lateral move. And they're going to get it done in a very different way with Mike McCarthy as a head coach. of the Steelers versus how Mike Tomlin got there with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it's very easy to draw a lot of parallels between those two guys as good regular season coaches who haven't had as much postseason success as you might expect, given the amount of opportunities those guys had to reach the postseason.

Starting point is 00:04:51 And Mike McCarthy is already talking about bringing Aaron Rogers back and trying to run that back with Aaron Rogers being another year older and doing it in given a scheme that Rogers was more successful with. but even if Monkin is a good offensive coach, and he's that kind of head coach for you. And he maybe brings a different attitude. He's talked about for his bluntness and has been described as acerbic in reports that I've seen.

Starting point is 00:05:19 So there's some concern, I think, from some people that he will rub people the wrong way if they don't start winning in a hurry in Cleveland. Like, how much better of a coach could he be than Kevin Sophansky? Two-time coach of the year, by the way, Kevin Sifansky, who immediately got hired to go be a head coach. for another team. And if it's a lateral move for an offensive head coach in Cleveland where you still don't

Starting point is 00:05:40 have a quarterback unless you're really rocking with Pro Bowl quarterback Shedur Sanders. He's a pro bowler. Yeah, I mean, how could you not? Where's the path forward for Cleveland? That's hard to figure out there, right? Where's the path forward for Pittsburgh who both of these teams still need resets? And look, both of these teams could still be very annoying for the Cincinnati Bengals in the regular season. I'm not saying anything about that.

Starting point is 00:06:04 Like I think this division will probably still find a way to, and we'll talk about this a little bit later when we talk about the continuity advantage, do they get a one-year bump in the division with Zach Taylor sticking around? I think this division is probably largely still going to beat the crap out of each other. They seem to do that pretty much every year. And isn't a division where, you know, it's like the AFC South, where forever there's one dominant team in the AFC South. I mean, and I know now it's a little bit more bad.

Starting point is 00:06:32 But all those Peyton Manning years in the AFC South where nobody could come close to the Colts or it would seem like there's one team that's okay every year the Titans being the one seed in 2021. That division was terrible. It's not like that in the AFC North most years. They tend to beat each other up and I don't know, man. It's a hard sell for me to see either of these, those two higher specifically looking at those two, Pittsburgh and Cleveland first, is anything besides lateral moves where maybe there's a little bit of a bunch. but are they moving the needle and time obviously will tell for all these things you never really know but it's kind of just how it feels given what was there before and what's there now for each of these teams yeah totally i get it i think what was there before in my tomlin's

Starting point is 00:07:22 case is the best coach in the division and i still think that that's the case for pittsburg i think mike mccarthy is a good coach you know this i went on this rant off air with you two days ago. He's, for some reason, he's a punchline, and I'm not saying he's perfect, but he's Sean Payton or John Harbaugh or any of those guys that are held in like this much different regard. Like, he's very similar. Mike Tomlin, very similar. And it's had success. And that's the type of coach, to your point, like from a fit standpoint. You know who needed that? The Cleveland Browns, they needed some stability, a guy who wins, a guy, an offensive mind. And so instead they cost themselves, potentially their defensive coordinator,

Starting point is 00:08:04 and maybe they just keep them anyway and pay them a bunch of money, bring in Todd Monkin. And there's questions there. And they did have a two-time coach of the year. That's the other element of this. And so they're dysfunctional. They remain dysfunctional. But like I think Pittsburgh, it's just like, all right, well, can you figure out what you're doing at quarterback? I just assume they're going to keep drafting defensive linemen in that work because they're just good at it.

Starting point is 00:08:27 But they no longer have their defensive line. line coach of the last seven, eight years, however long he's been there, who's developed so many great players for them in the last decade, which, by the way, I think that's a big decision. I'm surprised. Yeah, I'm surprised that that is the case. Yeah. Meanwhile, you got Baltimore making a much bolder decision, James, and going in a different direction at head coach. I think it's a bit of a different conversation for the Ravens where like, like you said, you thought Mike Tomlin is the best coach in the division. I think Mike McCarthy probably gets the sealers to a similar place at the end of the year, right? Probably with a winning record, wild card, threatening the division,

Starting point is 00:09:07 maybe a game, maybe two games back. Maybe they win the division, who knows? But it's hard to see that as much more than a lateral move because of everything else going on in Pittsburgh. Right now, you've got to figure out the defensive side of the ball again where you have that at least sort of with with Tomlin. Maybe you hire better coaches, better, better assistants, better coordinators. I think that was one of Tomlin's biggest issues, although I guess Arthur Smith was getting head coaching interviews again. But we'll see how that goes. We'll get in catching astray a little bit. Meanwhile, Baltimore, pretty big difference in the direction they went. They did go the young up-and-coming route. And so let's get into Baltimore. Let's talk about where Zach sacks up with

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Starting point is 00:12:06 All right, Jake. Let's get to Jesse Minter. And I think to me, it's interesting that they're going this route. One, it's, I think the first name you mentioned, like, hey, they're going to, they're going to just bring Jesse Minter back. So there you go. Two, it does fit the theme of being annoying because I think whatever floor he has as a head coach, it should work enough in the fear would be that he's.

Starting point is 00:12:32 the next Mike McDonald that can come in there and have this Joe Burrow, this defense that set up to slow Joe Burrow down, which Mike McDonald certainly had that formula, at least to a certain degree, during his years with the Baltimore Ravens. And so, yeah, I think of the three hires, this one's the most intriguing, and you could argue has the most upside.

Starting point is 00:12:53 And it certainly doesn't have the floor that, say, a Todd Monkin has. So Baltimore, with an annoying hire, I would say, as it comes to when it comes to the Bengals and their chances. Yeah, it seems like there's a couple ways this could go, right? They realize they let Mike McDonald get out the building and maybe have some regrets about that. And so they go try to find the best approximation of Mike McDonald that they can this available.

Starting point is 00:13:16 That's kind of what this feels like, right? Like another Michigan Harbaugh guy, defensive-minded coach, who, to be fair, got good results out of his defense, especially when it was as healthy as it could be in Los Angeles. but the keys are going to be how they build this thing out around Mentor. You got a young defensive-minded coach, and obviously this isn't the worst thing in the NFL at this point. At the same time, despite the trend where we currently see two defensive coaches in the Super Bowl

Starting point is 00:13:47 for the first time, I think since 2016, I think I learned that yesterday. The offensive coordinators in the NFL that call plays, the long-term, longest tenured offensive coordinator in the NFL that calls plays was hired in 2025. These guys do not stick around. If you have an offensive coordinator who's calling plays for your team, who is calling plays for one of the best offenses in the NFL, he is getting hired elsewhere. And other than that, your head coach is calling your offensive plays. A lot of head coaches that are defensive side of the ball are also calling defensive plays. CEO head coach does not necessarily just mean defensive-minded coach.

Starting point is 00:14:30 See, for example, Seattle, where Mike McDonnell calls a defense there. But what's going to be critical in Baltimore, obviously, is building out this staff around Jesse Minter where maybe he gets that defense back to where it should be. That's why he was hired. The Ravens have this idea of what their defense is supposed to look like, how they won the Super Bowl was on the backs of really good, one of the best defenses ever and really good defensive teams.

Starting point is 00:14:54 Can they get back to that point with, With Jesse Mincher, that's the idea, but it's going to be critical for them to have a functional offense. And now they will not have Todd Monkin back, so they have to figure out what they're doing on the offensive side of the wall. It doesn't sound like Monkin was going to be back either way. They've hired, as far as I know, one major coach, the offensive line coach, Dwayne Ledford, who will also coordinate their run game. He led a potent running attack in Atlanta most recently. So that has been heralded as a really good hire by a lot of people whose opinions I really respect. and we'll see what he does outside of that, right?

Starting point is 00:15:29 Because you've got to figure out the rest. You obviously have seen that top-tier running offense in Baltimore not be enough for them to really get over the hub for the last several years. And so you need more than that. And now they have to figure out what that is in that path forward. Yeah. And so let's get to it here. You look at this and it's Jesse Mentor, it's Todd Monkin, which is a surprise.

Starting point is 00:15:56 I think coming into today, it kind of felt like Jim Schwartz was going to get it. Nate Shieldhouse, among others, probably scared away from this idea of pairing with Jim Schwartz. And I think Jim Schwartz kind of shyed away from pairing with one of these young offensive minds. So you have kind of some dysfunction. I'm sure Dan Pitcher felt that a little bit during his interview with the Browns. Thank goodness. He didn't get that. Well, you got to pass a personality test or whatever.

Starting point is 00:16:24 You know what, though, like, and I made, I tried to make this clear, as clear as possible. It would have been really hard for Dan Pitcher to succeed there. Like, I know he wants to call plays and I know he wants to be a head coach and I get all of that. I do. Man, sometimes you don't get the gig that you're not meant to get and it works out very, very well. I've had that happen. And I'm thankful looking back that it didn't happen with certain scenarios. And this is many, many moons ago.

Starting point is 00:16:53 But the point remains is like that would have been a tough spot. So before we get into exactly the best head coach in the North, Dan, just count your blessings today, my friend, because the chaos. I know you want to be a head coach. I get it. I understand. But if you do your job this year, you're going to get your opportunities.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Even without calling plays, I think he will get opportunities. If the Bengals are where they expect to be, top of the north, playing in playoff games, doing all of those things. he'll get his chance. And obviously there are people that need to do their job to give Dan and Zach and all these guys a chance to do what they need to do to keep their job. But at the same time, I think Dan's going to have a shot here at some point to be a head coach. And that Cleveland job, it's just going to be tough to succeed there.

Starting point is 00:17:46 I think it kind of showed and how they had such issues with their coaching search, right? It's unbelievable. Yes. They go through all, they jump through all these hoops reportedly to try to keep Jim Schwartz around. And then they hire a guy that isn't Jim Schwartz and now Jim Schwartz is pissed anyway and says he's out. And we'll see what happens there, right? Like a lot could happen between the time of us recording this and the time you listen to this. But when we started recording this, it was Jim Schwartz sold his friends in the building.

Starting point is 00:18:13 He was done. So we'll see how that shakes out in Cleveland. Where does Zach stack up in all? Stay mad, Jim. Stay mad, Jim. rip your shirt off Jim go elsewhere Jim and take miles the hell with you honestly though like the the two guys that are now like the two most prominent coaches that that were that are not being retained by their team carl dumbbar the Steelers defensive line coach and jim shorts like

Starting point is 00:18:40 i'll take both of them he said he said come on come to Cincinnati it you know it's less than a four hour drive for each like they could get here much faster than you could Oh, yeah, no doubt about that. I obviously don't think the Bengals are doing either of those things. The Bengals coaching staff is set, but at least there's a possibility they won't be in the AFC North anymore. But let's talk about where... Continuity.

Starting point is 00:19:05 Zach stacks up with the advantage of continuity. This is what they're selling us this year. Last year they were selling us Al Goldenkin, teach these young guys. And this year, they're selling us continuity. Anyone buying? Let's discuss that to finish the show coming up next. Locked-on Bengals was brought to you today by Indeed.

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Starting point is 00:21:57 And remember, it's game time with Locked on. Is Zach the best coach in the AFC North, James Rupin? Come on. What are you doing to me? No. What do you mean? No. No, he's not.

Starting point is 00:22:12 What do you mean? He hasn't been of the playoffs at three years with Joe Burrow. No, he's not. They went one and eight without Joe Burrow. And it's not all Zach's fault. But this idea, because I think there are a lot of people that say, yes. I did a poll on on X and it might even it might even go more in Zach's favor after the Todd Munkin hire, but it was whoever the Browns hire, Mike McCarthy, Zach Taylor or obviously Jesse Minner.

Starting point is 00:22:37 And Miner was second. Zach got like 46% of the vote on who was the best coach. Minner was in the 30, 30-ish percent, a little over 30 percent. What? Trying to find the poll. To me, Mike McCarthy, I did it like Saturday after McCarthy got hired. To me, Mike McCarthy is it. And if you look at it, he's very close to Sean Pate.

Starting point is 00:22:58 It's 161% of his regular season games. 500 record in the playoffs has one Super Bowl ring, offensive mind. Had, honestly, I think a pretty decent stint with the Cowboys considering the circumstances and considering no one wanted him there the moment he got there on social media. Obviously, won the Super Bowl with Green Bay over Mike Tomlin, by the way. I think that's pretty noteworthy. Should they have gotten to another one? Yeah, they should have.

Starting point is 00:23:21 There's no doubt. And I'm not saying he's a perfect coach. I'm not saying he's Bill Belichick. By the way, Hall of Fame snub. What the hell is that? I just think it is Mike McCarthy. And this idea,

Starting point is 00:23:35 because of the unknown of Jesse Minter, the unknown of Todd Monkin, that Zach Taylor is just better than Mike McCarthy because Mike McCarthy is more of a punchline on social media. Like, I don't buy it. I think I would give the edge of McCarthy. I think if McCarthy is a punchline,

Starting point is 00:23:48 Zach certainly is a punchline at this point too, right? That's fair. That's fair. Outside of Cincinnati, it's one, thing, but I think in NFL circles, they're like, Zach Taylor, you know, and I'm not saying that's fair, but that's what it is. I know this isn't an individual that we reference very often on this show, but Stephen A. Smith has been calling for Zach Taylor's job for like five years. Yeah, yeah, I don't care about him, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:24:14 But I think that attitude is not only Stephen A. Smith. Like, that's not just Stephen A. Percelling at clouds. That's people in national media, like, man, really? like Mina Kimes has talked about like, why are we not talking about Zach Taylor more? Why are we not talking about what the Bengals are doing more? And they continue to not talk about what the Bengals are doing more. There are a lot of coaches that are changing jobs this year.

Starting point is 00:24:38 A lot of teams changing coaches this year. So I kind of understand why it didn't stay potentially in the spotlight longer when the Bengals made that choice. But the idea that Zach is the best coach in the North, Like, maybe. We'll see. It's hard to take the skins on the wall away from Mike McCarthy, who's been a better coach over a longer period of time than Zach Taylor.

Starting point is 00:25:02 It doesn't have the playoff winning percentage as Zach Taylor does, but sure has played a lot more playoff games. Yep. And at some point, you've got to go to the playoffs in order for me to care about your playoff winning percentage. That's right. And then we'll see about Jesse Minter, right? Like, I think Jesse Minter could end up being a great coach.

Starting point is 00:25:20 We'll see what happens there with him. in Baltimore. Baltimore has done a good job of identifying and hiring head coaches and maybe mentors that. Maybe this is where they've misstepped. Maybe this is them desperately trying to find Mike McDonald. But we'll see. We'll see how that shakes out.

Starting point is 00:25:41 The one that you pretty easily don't have a lot of faith in is whatever's happening in Cleveland. Maybe if the optics were. a little bit better for them. You could feel a little bit better about it, but the way the coaching search went, the way it's concluded, the drama immediately after they made a decision

Starting point is 00:26:00 to go with a more veteran coach and not the young up-and-comer, and maybe Shieldhouse ended up turning them down, who knows? Maybe he didn't want to work with Jim Schwartz. And just a Jim Schwartz drama that immediately erupts afterwards. How can you have any confidence in what's happening in Cleveland? Now, all of that being said,

Starting point is 00:26:21 I do think that continuity should be at least some kind of advantage to Zach Taylor. Now, does that mean that that is the reason the Bengals should be favorites to win the AFC North next year? Like, I'm not saying any of that. But when you are very familiar with the personnel on these other teams and your own personnel and the division and you've been doing it all this time, that hypothetically should be an advantage Now, will it be an advantage just as a team that over the last few years has shown us that they need tape on teams to figure things out? So, like, if they have early AFC North games next year, we'll see how that factor plays into things with potentially different playbooks, different schemes from these new coaches in these new places or in these same places.

Starting point is 00:27:12 But what are your thoughts, James, about the continuity narrative? Because I'm very much of the mindset that I'll believe it when I see it. However, I also think it should be an advantage to have the established coach, the established culture, the established scheme, instead of having to change everything up like all the other AFC North teams will be doing this year. For sure. If Zach is, if Zach is a good head coach, quality head coach, the Bengals, like if the Bengals are right about keeping him, we should see it very quickly. And this should be one where they jump out in the north. They get off to the fast start. They're hitting on all cylinders. The defense has come together because they have a whole off season of,

Starting point is 00:27:57 here's what we did right. Here's what we did wrong. Here's who we need. Here's what fits. Here's what doesn't. Here's what we need to add on offense, which we've covered all these things earlier in the week. Make sure you check out those episodes.

Starting point is 00:28:08 But like, this is it. If you suck now, if you go six and 11 now or nine and eight now or one and eight without Joe, like even throw Joe out. Like if Joe gets hurt, you can't just drag. down. Like, it cannot happen. That's not it. And if that happens, then you're not the guy. It's it. And it should be that simple. We'll see. But it should be that simple. And that's why, to me, the pressure should be on. And Zach would say, well, the pressure is always on. And that's fair. I get that. But, like, the pressure is on now. Because you should sweep the Cleveland grounds. If Mike McCarthy is the

Starting point is 00:28:47 punchline everyone says, well, then you should at least split with the Steelers. And the time is now to take advantage of the Ravens who are going to have to rework that defense and have a bunch of turnover and all those things. Like, yeah, like now is the time. And so do the Bengals need to make moves? Of course they do. And assuming they make those moves

Starting point is 00:29:08 who are going to be looking at Zach, like, all right, it's time to win. And by the way, if Joe Burrow does get hurt and he misses a month, I don't want to hear it. If he misses two months, I still don't want to hear it. You need to still be able to win games without the one guy. it's just i know it's hard i'm not saying it's easy all those things but we'll see we'll see if they we'll see if they can do it and uh and the pressure needs to be on because you cannot

Starting point is 00:29:32 miss the playoffs for a fourth straight year with joe barrow at quarterback and honestly i don't care what joe says if that's the case there's really no scenario where zach should be back in 2027 if that happens yeah it's a it's a huge off season you know how we've talked about like the biggest off season, whatever for the last three years. Yeah, this is like the proven off season. Like build that equity back up. Like I can't even see it's the biggest.

Starting point is 00:29:59 It's not. They've already missed out on those opportunities. And now they have an opportunity to try to get back into it. But it is kind of the biggest offseason for Zach. Because I do think that if this thing goes south, this could be the end for Zach.

Starting point is 00:30:15 And so I think from that, from his point, of view you could argue like yeah this is a big one man got to get this right yep from the teams point of view it's really just it comes down to Joe burrow and how much they manage to keep him happy by doing the things that you're supposed to do to try to win games in the NFL and how much that becomes an issue or non-issue t higgins apparently recently scoffing as we have at the speculation or yeah i don't know what's a word like people making stuff up and then saying it on the internet.

Starting point is 00:30:51 Yeah. That's the word. It's honestly fake. Yeah. Yeah. Joe Burroughs stuff is what we're doing. It's not even news. It's like fake.

Starting point is 00:31:01 It's literally just people making things up and saying it on the internet. Yeah. Which I guess that's the world we live in. That's going to do it though for this episode of the lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening. Who day. And have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - AFC North Head Coaches Set: Did Bengals Get It Right With Zac Taylor?

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