Feb 4, 2019 5 min read

After 16 years without a playoff win under Marvin Lewis, the Bengals decided to try something different. But they had to wait more than a month before hiring Zac Taylor as their next coach in hopes of ending a long streak of futility.

Taylor’s already been in town enough to know the history.

The Rams quarterbacks coach reached a deal Monday a few hours after LA’s 13-3 loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl at Atlanta. Cincinnati had to wait until after the title game to make his hiring official. The Bengals and Dolphins were the last two teams to fill head coaching vacancies, with Miami getting the Patriots’ Brian Flores.

After three straight losing seasons and 28 years without a playoff victory, Cincinnati joined the latest wave – turning to a young, offensive-minded coach.

“Zac is a bright coach with an offensive mind and background, which is important to have in today’s NFL,” owner Mike Brown said in a statement. “And he’s young. He embraces new ideas and new ways to do things, which will be a good thing for us.”

Taylor is the Bengals’ youngest head coach since they hired Dave Shula at age 32 in 1992. Shula went on to lose 50 games faster than any coach in NFL history, finishing 19-52.

The Bengals will introduce Taylor on Tuesday in what amounts to a homecoming for the 35-year-old coach.

Taylor has a head start, familiar with the city’s affinity for chili parlors. He was offensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati in 2016, when the Bearcats finished 4-8. Coach Tommy Tuberville was replaced after the season, and Taylor headed back to the NFL.

He also knows about the professional football team’s longstanding futility, too. During his one year in town, the Bengals were starting their streak of three straight losing seasons that ultimately cost Lewis his job.

Taylor is taking a cue from his father-in-law, a former NFL head coach, in how to handle his new job.

“My father-in-law, Mike Sherman, coached a long, long time, and he just said, ‘Be true to yourself. Be who you are, and people will follow you,'” Taylor said during Super Bowl week. “And I found that way to work for me.”

His challenge is reminiscent of what Lewis faced when he arrived in 2003. He’ll be counted upon only to win games, but also to win back fans turned off by the owner’s aversion to change.

Brown was loyal to Lewis and stuck with him despite an 0-7 mark in the playoffs, the worst in NFL history for a head coach. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season under Sam Wyche, tied with Washington for the fifth-longest streak of postseason futility in league history.

Since then, Shula, Bruce Coslet, Dick LeBeau and Lewis failed to get a playoff win. They managed only seven winning seasons combined, all by Lewis.Flores accepts next challenge

When Brian Flores was asked how he celebrated winning the Super Bowl, he paused for several seconds and laughed.

“I kissed my wife on the field,” Flores said.

Then it was on to the next challenge, and a big one – fixing the Miami Dolphins. Flores, the New England Patriots’ linebackers coach and defensive play-caller, was hired Monday as Miami’s head coach.

He accepted the job hours after helping the Patriots shut down the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams for a 13-3 victory in the title game Sunday night in Atlanta.

“It has been a whirlwind 24 hours,” Flores said with a smile at a news conference that drew two dozen cameras.

“Looking at this crowd here, you’d think we won the Super Bowl,” Miami owner Stephen Ross said. “I’ve never seen this many people in this room. … To me, you start an organization by signing a great leader. I believe we’ve found that leader.”

Flores was the first person the Dolphins interviewed after they fired coach Adam Gase on Dec. 31. They decided on Jan. 11 to offer the job to Flores but had to wait until New England’s season ended to complete an agreement.

“I wasn’t in a rush to become a head coach,” said Flores, 37. “I had a good job in New England.”

Flores said the Dolphins job was appealing because he shared a vision with general manager Chris Grier on how to build a winner.

While preparing for the Super Bowl, Flores also began to hire a Miami staff. The group is expected to include former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell as assistant head coach, Patriots receivers coach Chad O’Shea as offensive coordinator and Packers assistant Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator.

The son of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in Brooklyn and has spent his entire coaching career with the Patriots. He joined them in 2004 and became their de facto defensive coordinator a year ago after Matt Patricia left to join the Lions as their head coach.

Flores is the ninth former assistant to Bill Belichick to become a head coach.