How Bengals’ Zac Taylor is refocusing for next season | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

Zac Taylor joins PFT Live to discuss what he learned about the Bengals in Joe Burrow’s absence, his approach to the offseason, and the evolution of the QB position. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #ZacTaylor
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How Bengals’ Zac Taylor is refocusing for next season | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
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Continuing our coverage of all things NFL from the scouting combine in Indianapolis joining us now the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals he is Zack Taylor Zach welcome back thanks for having me Fells thanks for doing it yeah good it’s got he got here I mean the

Room cleared out he finally got here I mean you know I think he’s tactically late every year for this so he doesn’t have to deal with the whole media rush I was just giving him a hard time before we came out I’ll take all the credit I

Can get okay sounds good it’s good coaching how’s the offseason going so far so far so good a little longer than we had hoped for but uh we’re trying to make the most of it we’ve had some new hires we’ve we’ve brought in the building and so everyone’s getting

Settled do you when you watch the playoff football do you get like invested root anything or do you just kind of it’s hard to watch you know because the last two years we we’ve been in those games and I’m walking through the airport on the way to somewhere and

They announcing the score the bills Chiefs game the security guy is I’m thinking you know that’s want our score to be announced you know and so uh it’s hard to watch but again that’s we love watching the games we watched all of them after having a year that finished

With a Super Bowl appearance and then a year that ended with an AFC championship appearance this year no postseason how different is that just from the standpoint of what you have time to do and refocus and prepare for the season to come I mean there’s there’s several

More weeks in January than we’ve had in the years’s past um you know we we did have movement on our coaching staff so there was a lot of interviews that had to take place so we were in a position to be able to do that and and make the

Right hires um but it does put things in perspective it’s hard to get back there it’s hard to get to the playoffs it’s hard to get to the top and we got a lot of work to do to be able to get ourselves back in that position got a

Lot of work to do but like you should feel a little proud like I at least I said here I mean you lost Joe Dan burrow and you guys kind of stayed in the right race there I mean there’s got to be a little bit of Silver Lining there with

How your football team played and fought towards the end of the year I I think that’s that’s the great point is we found out a lot about the team things I thought I already knew but but man these guys will compete um but also disappointed that you know we didn’t get

To keep playing in uh into January and so those are things that we expect to do but so there’s things to be proud of but also things to be disappointed about as well did it feel it felt like us I mean you know we talk about you guys and

Football every day it felt like it was like oh here’s the Bengals sleep walking in September again a little bit but like it did it feel like to you guys in the locker room that you were kind of starting to get it right as the the burrow injury happened yeah it did you

Know we went on the road to San Francisco and hosted buffalo on a big Sunday night game um and then and then turn around played Baltimore and had the injury happen so we felt like we were playing good football um took a little L there but then got back one three in

December put ourselves Back In Contention and then just couldn’t close it out yeah you played the Chiefs on New Year’s Eve after they had had a not too good game against the Raiders when you studied that and knew you were getting them in the aftermath of that I mean

Were you thinking we’re getting a team that you know isn’t the Chiefs that we’re used to no no n you couldn’t allow yourself to think like that or see that you still see the same faces on the other side Chris Jones Kelsey momes all the same great coaches

They’ve had so there’s a lot of guys we respect there it’s always a battle um the game came down like it always does the last couple minutes of the game and we weren’t able to pulled out you feel better right now you know with t Higgins

Tied up that’s like stress to leave like USA you’re good for right now I wasn’t too stressed about not having tea next year so uh you know internally when you get to have the conversations there wasn’t a whole lot for me to stress about but um he’s a huge part of what we

Do he he works his tail off to put himself in the position to be where he’s at and and so again he’s he’s needs to be a part of what we’re doing what about your your your QB burrow right I mean where where’s he at right now like you

Think he’s going to have a full off season and and everything he’s progressing you know one thing I’ve learned in in six years of doing this job is is when it comes to the injuries don’t don’t throw deadlines on it but uh he’s progressing as well as everyone

Could hope right um we have high expectations um The Hope is that he’ll be involved in the offseason program be able to do as much as as possible and then we’ll be ready to go for the season does it feel like it’s been six years you said six years I’m like holy crap

It’s been six years uh sometimes it does sometimes it’s like man it’s flown by you know just seeing pictures of my kids I think at my opening press conference to where they’re at now and six years of of childhood it’s that puts things in perspective for me of where we were in

Life and where we are now and um things that we’ve achieved and things we have yet to achieve so there there’s still a lot there to to go after want to go back to the receiver position because you’ve got a quarterback who’s got market value contract you’ve got one receiver in

Jamar Chase who’s going to expect after Justin Jefferson gets his contract whenever that may happen a market value contract you’ve got T Higgins now with the franchise teag how do you philosophically because there was a time when I remember it well like the Cardinals well we can’t pay both anquin

Bolton and Larry Fitzgerald we got to pick one or the other how do you allocate cap dollars for those three spots on the roster and keep everybody else happy and have a good enough team around it so maybe we should be quiet and listen to Duke’s press conference

Maybe he’s answering that right now so that’s that’s the time of the year where Duke gets to take on those questions and uh obviously what I love about being with the Bengals is everybody’s involved and everyone gets to hear it and everyone have opinions but at the end of

The day those are the decisions um that they’ve been working on diligently they’ve seen what type of talent’s in the building they brought it there how to figure it all out and let us coach these guys as best we can and um so again it’s been a very collaborative

Process that I I appreciate being a part of you you um I I’m interested in you know a little bit more of a philosophical question right about the league in general right is there a trend or a trend that’s coming right now in the NFL or that is here already and

Maybe I don’t even know about that you find like as kind of fascinating about the league right now maybe compared to six seven eight years ago I I think six seven years ago the way some of these motions have evolved offensively they’ll and these motions were probably

Years ago I just didn’t know it I didn’t watch pro football back then and now they’re they’re coming back in so um I I just think there’s things like that that have evolved that people have stolen studied defense have done the same thing they’ll phase out then they’ll pop back

In you know a decade later and do you find yourself like you know I mean how much do you get influenced by that you know because people like me sometimes are sitting there going I wish the Bengals motion more right after I watch you play a certain team or whatever

Right so yeah how do you kind of balance you know doing some of that stuff but also keeping what you want to do you want make sure it’s worthwhile you know don’t just motion just a motion because people tell you got a motion you know and so you want to gain information from

It you want to gain leverage you want to give the quarterback information you want to give the receivers releases you want to be able to to find some tools to see what the defense is doing to make our audibles and things like that so we

Want to know before we we put one in we want to know what is this actually giving us yeah um and sometimes it’s just a way to cover up a formation but uh we put a lot of time and effort to making sure we’re doing it the right way

Postseason overtime obviously the bills Chiefs game from a couple of years ago sparked the change but you played in the last postseason overtime game under the old rules against the Chiefs and the Chiefs got the ball first and the Chiefs weren’t able to score a touchdown Patrick Mahomes throws an interception

You win the game and I say all that just I’m curious from your perspective postseason overtime yeah you win the coin toss do you already have a decision as to what you’re going to do if you win the coin TOs so I we have a general

Decision yes uh but as soon as that happened I did go through my notes from the previous year we played Baltimore Buffalo and Kansas City had these conversations before every game Saturday morning and and I had written we’ written in great detail the wise and the

Wise Nots of doing each so it changes for every opponent right it changes it it can constantly change and and so again I I can’t speak to the decisions that were made in the Super Bowl because there’s a lot of thought that goes into that there’s a lot of support you could

Make behind each one and it’s not as just clean cut as some people said to me well College this is what they do in college well in college it does never turn into sudden death so that’s a whole different element that you got to consider and so it really it really that

The weather the team um there’s a lot of things I think that point into that equation and you wouldn’t make a final decision based upon what you’re saying until it’s time you you have to sit I couldn’t tell you right now next postseason this is our decision right um

I could maybe tell you where I’d lean right now but but that would be an in-depth decision with our coordinators and our and analytics people are you a i asked a few AFC coaches this especially today right cuz there’s you know the AFC West coaches dealing with the Chiefs

Momes all that are you a little bit more did the Bengals go hey let’s worry about the AFC North or is it a little bit more in totality of the AFC Al together to kind of get to the promised land you’ve got to focus in your division certainly

And we were one in five last year in our division which is why our record was 9 and8 we didn’t make the playoffs um so what what we always subscribed to is when when you can come out alive in your division you’re battle tested ready for

The playoffs and so our focus is on that is beating those three teams put yourself in the best position that when you do make the playoffs you feel like it’s all in front of us right now obviously there’s great teams elsewhere Kansas City is one of the last two years

So we still pay attention to them feels like we played them 20 times in the last three years but uh yeah there there’s there’s a singular Focus within the division and then there’s that wholesale Focus so it starts Division and then it goes from there I would say so yeah yeah

I want to ask you another question about a bigger picture issue they’re going to do something with the kickoff Troy vinon has made it clear that the kickoff is currently constituted can’t continue it’s a dead play just put the ball on the 25 what would you do differently

Than what they’re currently doing now yeah it that’s a hard one for me to answer that that’s been kicked around now for over a year where we’ve talked in depth I’ve talked with Darren Sims our special teams coach I don’t have that solution you know it’s one where I

Want to hear everybody’s opinions and then jump in and and we’ll vote certainly whichever way we feel like we need to vote but um as a quarterback often scored background now a head coach I’ll defer these special teams coaches that have talked it around a lot and and

We’ll see where they end up with it well your life change much now you know you lost you got a you got a coaching tree now right Brian Callahan going to Tennessee and all of that how much does that affect you and you know your process weekly whatever I know you’re

Going to lean on some other people but you know what is the dynamic change there well number one I hate to lose Brian I mean he was my best friend we were together I I’d love to know how many hours he sat in my office and we talked through game plans and things

Like that so um I’ll miss that but it’s great it’s great for him to get a new opportunity he’s worked really hard for it it’s great for Dan pitcher and Brad kraigor to move up in their roles change can be a good thing even though I you

Sit there as a head coach you think I want the same staff for 10 years and no one changes roles and and I know what to expect but change can be good for us and so um it can make it comfortable in a lot of different ways we’ll continue to

Work through it but we’ve got really good people in place that were able to be elevated and and I’m excited to see that challenge for all of us yeah what percentage of your best Secrets during those conversations with Brian Callahan did you keep to yourself say that one

Percentage of your like you know your your secret sauce like you’re not going to tell them everything you do you got to hold some of it back told I think I told him everything you know it’s it’s uh you know when you it’s I’m with my wife and

I was with Brian Callahan really those are probably the top two and then there’s Lou in rumo and Darren Simmons but being an offensive guy is probably with him the most and so um you know event with him you share ideas with him and and you lean a lot on him and he’s

Deserving this opportunity and I’m I’m proud of him and I know he’s going to do a great job you were in Tampa with me right for a little bit and I want to be you remember the Motions blast a bunch right and all that crap that we used to

Do there but either way um I another kind of just big picture thought are you like amazed with kind of where quarterbacks have gone just even like you start of your NFL career right and I mean that just because kind of all the same mold like as far as pocket passer

Do that there wasn’t like these other Dynamic athletes right now it’s a totally different position now you know are are you kind of amazed by it do you have to evaluate the position differently that’s a great question you’re right I think I’m the right person to answer that because I came up

Playing for Bill Callahan the only reason I got invited to Tampa was so I could take snaps in the rookie mini camp and call the place because I ran that offense in college at Nebraska that’s the only looking back that’s why which is fine and so you were Center Pro style

Those were the key ingredients for guys be able to talk the verbage and then when I got in the NFL in 2012 and started having to scout quarterbacks as a quarterback coach I graded those guys higher than I graded the spread offense shotgun runaround because I didn’t

Believe that’s how you play in this league and then I was proven wrong time and time again right to where over my time the last 10 years I’ve had a totally shift you just got to look for the intangibles the arm Talent the ability to learn and elevate your

Teammates and you have to look at it drastically different then then I came into the league in 2012 and and was was kind of pigeon Hool that way so it’s been interesting and and they come in all shapes and sizes and there’s a lot of different styles of players doing a

Great job yeah yeah last year right over there we asked you about Joe Mixon you said he’d be on the team last year and he was what about this year yeah I think same thing you know it’s we’re in the same position he’s been a big part of

What we’ve done um went to the Pro Bowl this year and and helped us through really tough situation at the end of the year when we lost uh Joe burrow and so again I think guys that mean a lot to this organization Joe means a lot to me

And so um we’ll just continue to progress through the offseason and see where see where everything ends up next year when you look at the you know you’re rival right I feel like you’re really one of the only team if not the only team the Kansas City Chiefs are

Scared of in football right or at least the you make them think I’ll say it you don’t have to say it but what is it about them because I think they have a respect for you guys and some of the stuff you do what what is it how you

Look at them and impresses you about the chief’s culture and Andy re it’s never easy there there’s no freebies when you’re playing against that defense you earn every single yard that you get every first down every Point um you earn it they’ve got key players at every

Level that they’ve done a great job of um and I think offensively obviously it starts with their top two guys and goes from there but um you know you every game we’ve played against them the last five times has been a paddle it’s come

Down to the end of the game um you know it’s it’s you got to stay penalty free turnover free and make the most of your opportunities down the stretch and and I think each team that’s won has done that you know that down at the end of the

Game do you notice like Joe B number nine when it’s momes and Josh Allen and he’s about to play is there a different twinkle in his eye during the week right I mean I know I used to get excited against other big time I think that’s

His secret sauce is he’s so locked in every week he’s playing it doesn’t matter to see him in the games he was healthy this year and what he did for us um you know that was that’s the guy we’re we’re we’re used to seeing at this

Point and um so he always shows up on those stages and I know he’s shom a bit to get back out there he does seem to rise to a higher level in the postseason though some guys you know in the narratives out there they can’t win under those Bright Lights it seems like

The brighter the lights are the more anxious he is to show what he can do yeah and I wouldn’t anxious isn’t the word I would use I think it just prepared and and ready to go determined yeah and and I think that’s the moments he’s prepared for his entire life so

He’s finally on that stage he’s used to be on that stage went to state championship in High School National Championship in college Super Bowl in the NFL that’s that’s his expectation is to be there and to be able to perform in that stage all right so you’re here

Combine I know you got to go here in a minute but you know your team overall you know any specific area anything you did last year whatever that you feel like hey I I definitely want to get better in this area you know this year in 2024 I don’t know that there’s an

Area we can say that we were good enough to be truthful with you you know and I think when go 9 and8 which is basically 500 in this new modern 17 game schedule we’re going to call that the modern 7 I don’t know what we’re calling that but

Uh you know you can’t walk away feeling like anything was good enough and so it’s good it’s created a new urgency within our coaching staff and our players that that wasn’t good enough and everything we’ve been doing you know we got we got to reevaluate and and start

To get a little bit uncomfortable yeah yeah he’s Zach Taylor congratulations on six years here’s the six more six more beyond that and what the hell six more beyond that Bengals head coach we’ll be back with more hi it’s Mike Florio thanks for watching PFT on YouTube hit subscribe for the

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