Bengals fans rank Zac Taylor near bottom of NFL coach confidence rankings

The Cincinnati Bengals went all in this off-season on defense to fix what went wrong in 2026. However, questions remain about the team that go beyond swing tackle, linebacker, and which players will sign to the practice squad. 

Those inquiries start at the top. Well, not all the way at the top, because ownership isn't going to fire itself. 

But with head coach Zac Taylor firmly on the hot seat, many question whether he can get the job done even with what should be one of the best rosters we have seen in Cincinnati in quite some time. Additionally, few fans would vote to keep Taylor in place, as they have ranked him near the bottom of trustworthy head coaches.

Bengals fans deliver brutal verdict on Zac Taylor

Andy Whiteoak of Covers surveyed NFL fans and discovered that Bengals HC and playcaller Zac Taylor ranks 30th in “head coach confidence rankings.”

Of what Bengals fans think of Taylor, Whiteoak writes in part, “…the fans realize they were just watching elite talent mask a stagnant playbook. After a disappointing 6-11 season defined by isolation routes and a lack of easy, schemed-up completions, 84.5% of Bengals fans are ready to move on. Taylor struggles to find structural answers when the roster advantage is neutralized, and the patience is gone.”

Whiteoak noted that confidence in Taylor is a 4.58 out of 10, with 84.5% of fans not wanting to keep Taylor in Cincinnati.

There is no doubt that what we saw from Taylor in his first two years in Cincinnati was beyond troubling. He finished his first two years with a worse winning percentage than Dave Schula, who is rightfully thought of as the worst coach in Bengals history.

Why the front office stuck with Taylor after his second season is anyone's guess.

Most would say the Bengals are cheap and don't want to pay a coach not to coach. However, the cheap label should have subsided after the spending and extensions over the past three offseasons.

The C-suite’s patience with Taylor paid off in his third year, as he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl. Taylor almost led the Bengals back to the Super Bowl again the following year before narrowly losing to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.

Now, after missing the playoffs in three straight seasons, questions about Taylor's ability to get the team where it wants to be have resurfaced. And fans have voted that they no longer believe Taylor can get them back to the Super Bowl or win it.

AFC North dealing with a coaching-confidence problem

Zac Taylor and the Bengals are not the only AFC North team whose fans have little confidence in their head coach. 

The bottom five least-trusted head coaches, or “Dead Men Walking,” as Whiteoak calls them, are Mike McCarthy (Steelers), Todd Bowles (Buccaneers), Taylor, Todd Monken (Browns), and Aaron Glenn (Jets). 

As much as we would love a reason for Taylor to rank higher, having Monken below him and McCarthy also in the bottom-5, at 28, makes the results slightly less terrible.

Stephen A. Smith piles on, again

One member of the national media who has been out on Taylor for several years now is ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Smith was recently at it again, ringing the same bell he always rings when it comes to Cincinnati's preparedness, or lack thereof, in September and October.

Smith’s confidence in Taylor is zero. He even states, “I was recently in that area, and my only regret is that I didn’t see Zac Taylor so I could tell him to his face. You’re lucky you have a job.”

Mr. Smith is echoing what Whiteoak’s survey says Bengals fans are thinking. Furthermore, Smith suggests that Burrow must overcome his head coach to win. That is another sentiment that some in Cincinnati feel. 

Hopefully, Taylor will deliver the best coaching performance of his career this upcoming season, proving Smith and 84.5% of surveyed fans wrong, just as he did in his third and fourth seasons, taking the Cincinnati Bengals to two consecutive AFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance.

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