The Cincinnati Bengals organization has undergone a radical shift in its typical operating procedures this offseason, putting head coach Zac Taylor in optimal position to succeed.
With that comes massive expectations. Taylor has missed the playoffs three years in a row. Those who know Bengals football understand that Taylor is absolutely not the major problem amongst Cincinnati's leadership. The locker room keeps buying into what he's selling. Joe Burrow and all the core players have Taylor's back at every turn.
What's also true is that Taylor is far and away the most convenient fall guy if the 2026 season goes sideways.
If this offseason foreshadowed how the Bengals will proceed in the coming years, they won't hesitate to move off Taylor if it means delivering a long-awaited Super Bowl to the Queen City. There would be a lengthy list of head coaching hopefuls lined up for the opportunity to work with Burrow.
Not to come across all doom-and-gloom before the season gets underway, but it's worth a quick think on who could succeed Taylor in the (fingers-crossed-unlikely) event that he's given the pink slip.
Grant Udinski, offensive coordinator, Jacksonville Jaguars
The 30-year-old coaching wunderkind has ascended the NFL ranks in short order. In the last cycle, Grant Udinski was a finalist for the head coaching vacancies in Cleveland and Buffalo.
Udinski ultimately stayed put in Jacksonville, where he'll continue to learn under one of the premier head coach/play-callers in Liam Coen. Prior to scoring that prestigious role, Udinski cut his teeth mostly with Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota.
Regardless of whether or not the Jags can back up their 13-win season from last year, it stands to reason that Udinski will be the next young hotshot head coach soon enough.
In his latest press conference, Udinski didn't sound like a man resting on his laurels, as he seems keen to ride the momentum of head coaching contention into another big step forward in his own development;
"I probably have a list of 200 things that, unfortunately, I could improve on. The bright side of that is there’s 200 things that I can improve on. So as a coordinator, for me personally, it’s the same approach that we take with the offense when we say we want to run the ball better, well how does that start with my role? What am I doing? How am I influencing the run game to make sure that that’s actually possible? So just like we sit down and evaluate those things, I’ve got to do the same thing for myself."
Not a bad combination to have a coach that young who's that hungry to progress on every single possible detail of his job description.
If the Bengals go status quo and stick with Taylor, under the hypothetical scenario that this year is a disappointment, they may miss out on a future stud who could elevate the entire franchise — and even Burrow — to another stratosphere.
Chris Shula, defensive coordinator, Los Angeles Rams
Bengals owner Mike Brown is steeped in football history. If Taylor's would-be successor comes from the defensive side of the ball, it'd be rather poetic to see Don Shula's grandson take the reins.
Chris Shula was a hot name on the interview circuit this offseason. He could've easily filled one of the 10 head coaching vacancies. Instead, he's running it back with Sean McVay in LA for another Super Bowl push.
DraftKings and every other major sportsbook has the Rams as the odds-on favorites to win it all. If that comes to pass, Shula will be a big reason why. He has even better personnel to work with now, too, with Los Angeles' acquisitions of ex-Chiefs cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
Shula has ties to the greater Cincinnati area. He played college football 35 miles down the road at Miami University, where he was McVay's teammate.
The Bengals pulled from McVay's coaching tree when they hired Taylor. Given the sustained success McVay has enjoyed and all the other aforementioned factors, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see Cincinnati go back to the well for Shula.
Mike McDaniel, offensive coordinator, Los Angeles Chargers
This quote from Burrow back in November, via ESPN's Ben Baby, has a lot of truth to it:
"There's not a scheme in the NFL that is so revolutionary that it's going to completely change the way a player plays the game...At the end of the day, you have to go make plays and play great within the system. At the end of the day, players have to take some accountability and play really well."
Counter-point: Not many moons ago, Mike McDaniel transformed Tua Tagovailoa into the NFL's leading passer. His system deployed a cutting-edge rushing attack and an exotic passing game that accentuated Tua's biggest strengths of accuracy and throwing with anticipation. It was an aggressive big-play generator that simultaneously aimed to take hits off the oft-injured QB.
McDaniel wore out his welcome as the Dolphins' head coach once Tua regressed. He's the ultimate persona non grata in Miami these days. Life comes at you fast in the National Football League, eh?
In a most savvy career move, though, McDaniel pivoted to be the play-caller for Justin Herbert on Jim Harbaugh's Chargers staff. If McDaniel can help Herbert break through for his first playoff victory, he'll have an inside track as one of the more coveted head coaching candidates in 2027.
We all witnessed what McDaniel cooked up with Tua as his QB1, and a lethal wide receiver duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Imagine the possibilities in Cincinnati with Burrow at the controls, and Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as the go-to weapons at his disposal.
Plus, the Bengals' offensive line is far more athletic these days and could actually execute McDaniel's outside zone-based running scheme. That'd take pressure off Burrow, bolster Chase Brown's prospects, and likely make Cincinnati's offensive attack as balanced and explosive as it's ever been in Burrow's career.
"But what about McDaniel's ability to lead men!?" yada yada yada. That's a tired narrative. Watch how quickly it flips when he guides Herbert to his best season with the Bolts.
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