Despite a long, storied history of excellence, the Nebraska football program has never had many former Husker players do much as coaches in the NFL. That's why the Zac Taylor story with the Cincinnati Bengals was just a fun one ... for a while.
The story was especially fun in 2021 and 2022 when the Bengals were one of the best teams in the league. A visit to the Super Bowl one year and the AFC championship the next meant that Taylor looked like one of the best coaches in the National Football League. However, Taylor has struggled the last three seasons.
Former Nebraska football QB Zac Taylor on the hot seat after Bengals collapse
In 2025, it appears the former Nebraska star's coaching career is coming to an end. Yes, another Joe Burrow injury is part of the problem, but the way his team has played since Burrow went down is the bigger part of the problem. Taylor's team has quit, and plenty of people are noticing.
Since Burrow suffered a significant toe injury, the Bengals are 0-2, and they've been outscored, 76-13. In their latest loss, his star wide receiver, Ja'Marr Chase, seemed to challenge him on the sidelines.
The announcers for the game against the Denver Broncos, which the Bengals lost 28-3, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck certainly seemed to understand that things were unraveling. "They've got more penalties than first downs tonight...they just frankly, after their first possession, didn't compete. This has been an embarrassing effort by the Cincinnati Bengals; they commented as the broadcast showed downcast Cincy players and coaches on the sidelines.
Clearly, not everything that has gone wrong with Cincinnati is on Taylor. The Bengals' front office is considered one of the worst in the league. They saddled him with a backup quarterback in Jake Browning, who clearly isn't a remotely competent NFL signal caller. They also gave him an offensive line that's among the worst in the league. The defense is as bad as it was a year ago, despite a new coordinator.
And yet, the team's lack of any fight despite a 2-0 start to the season, against mediocre at best competition, falls on the head coach.
With a game against the Detroit Lions next on the agenda, it's almost a certainty that a third straight blowout loss is on the agenda. Should that happen, the former Nebraska quarterback's job will almost come to an end.