Zac Taylor Will Return as Bengals Coach Despite 4-11-1 Record During 2020 Season

Despite posting a 2-14 record in 2019 and a 4-11-1 mark in 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals announced Monday that Zac Taylor will return as the team's head coach in 2020.

"We remain bullish on the foundation Zac is building, and we look forward to next year giving our fans the winning results we all want... We must capitalize on opportunities in front of us. Next year we will earn our stripes," owner Mike Brown said in a statement. 

Taylor took over a team that had finished with a losing record and missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons after five consecutive postseason appearances. He also took the reins from one of the NFL's longest-tenured head coaches, as the Bengals parted ways with Marvin Lewis after 16 years.

While Lewis was a highly experienced head coach, the 37-year-old Taylor had limited experience as a coach at any level. Aside from spending a few years as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M and one season as the offensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati, Taylor was an assistant for the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Rams.

He served as a quarterbacks coach for four seasons in Miami and was the interim offensive coordinator for five games. After his one-year stint with the Bearcats, Taylor joined Sean McVay's coaching staff in L.A.

Taylor was the assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 and then graduated to quarterbacks coach in 2018. He was lauded for his work with Rams quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns and led a Rams offense that was among the best in NFL history with an average of 32.9 points per game.

The Rams went all the way to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the New England Patriots, and by that point, it was already apparent Taylor would be the next head coach of the Bengals.

Taylor was expected to work wonders with the offense in Cincinnati, but that wasn't the case in 2019, as the Bengals averaged just 17.4 points per game, which ranked 30th in the NFL. The Bengals followed that up by finishing 28th in scoring in 2020.

One reason for Cincinnati's offensive struggles was Taylor couldn't settle on a quarterback, as he went from veteran Andy Dalton to rookie Ryan Finley and then back to Dalton.

Also, wide receiver A.J. Green missed the entire season with an ankle injury despite the expectation that he would be back by midseason.

Given the difficult situation Taylor found himself in, Bengals management gave him a chance to right the ship in 2020.

The poor performance in 2019 did bring one positive, as Cincinnati selected quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

Burrow showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie and was in the hunt for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, but a season-ending knee injury in Week 11 put the Bengals in a tough spot for the rest of the season.

By retaining Taylor for a third year, the hope is that he will get a full season with Burrow as his quarterback to see if he is truly the long-term answer at head coach.