Bengals HC Zac Taylor has fantastic Coach of the Year value

No one would have predicted that Zac Taylor, who had led the Cincinnati Bengals to just six wins in his first two seasons, would have been coaching in the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. That’s exactly what happened though.

While Taylor didn’t win Coach of the Year, he definitely would have had a strong case to have been named as such. No one thought he had a shot in hell at winning the award in 2021 but at least the case could have been made that leading his team from a four-win season to the playoffs would have given him a strong chance.

This year, it’ll be tougher for Taylor to really ‘wow’ people but the important thing for him to do is keep the young Bengals team on track and get back to the Super Bowl and win it this time.

As of now, WynnBET has Taylor’s Coach of the Year odds set at +2500, which is pretty good value considering he was the head coach of the AFC champions a season ago and should have been crowned the Coach of the Year with what he was able to accomplish.

Zac Taylor COTY odds are tempting

The leading Coach of the Year candidates in the odds are Brian Daboll of the Bills and Brandon Staley of the Chargers, each with +1400. Daboll has continuously had the Bills as a Super Bowl contender since taking over and Staley’s Chargers look ready to turn the corner this year after narrowly missing out on the postseason in 2021.

Nathaniel Hackett of the Broncos, Mike McDaniel of the Dolphins, Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings, Doug Pederson of the Jaguars, and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers are all tied for the second-best odds with +1500. Hackett, McDaniel, O’Connell, and Pederson are all in their first year with their respective teams and only Pederson has coached previously. Shanahan has gotten the 49ers to the Super Bowl and NFC Championship Game in two of the past three years so it makes sense to see him up there too.

I’ll admit that I was surprised to see Zac Taylor so low on the odds list but it does make sense. The Bengals aren’t under-the-radar anymore like they were a year ago. Even if they get back to the Super Bowl again, it wouldn’t be a surprise for them to do so.

Coach of the Year sometimes goes to the guy whose team was the best but oftentimes, it’s granted to the coach who led a bad team to success despite everything being thrown against him or despite coaching a team that was really bad the year before.

What do you think of Zac Taylor’s COTY odds?