Cincinnati Bengals‘ head coach Zac Taylor has had a winning record in three straight seasons, but in a conversation with Bengals.com reporter Geoff Hobson, he said he thinks going through this season made him a better coach and playcaller.
“You learn through these experiences you’re in,” Taylor said, via Hobson. “Every year is a little unique and we certainly faced some adversity like all teams do, and I certainly feel that I’ll be an improved head coach going forward and I’m excited to help the team improve as well.”
The Bengals faced adversity when starting quarterback Joe Burrow was dealing with an injury early in the season and started 1-3, but even more so when he was knocked out for the rest of the year and needed surgery.
Jake Browning took over, and he and Taylor led Cincinnati to a winning record in the best division in the NFL, playing a first-place schedule.
Taylor said it was tough for him to say whether this season was the best he has done as a coach, but he did say that the experiences and the things he learned will help him as a coach in the future.
“I certainly feel like we played a lot of really good teams this year that posed those challenges and you had to make sure you communicated really well as a staff to put our team in a good position and have a chance to win the game,” he said. “I know that we worked really hard at it, and we always put our best plan forward. And I think there are a lot of things that we can take to really help our offense next year.”
