{"id":43339,"date":"2026-02-13T12:48:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43339"},"modified":"2026-02-13T12:48:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:48:37","slug":"zac-taylor-named-among-five-coaches-with-hottest-seats-entering-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=43339","title":{"rendered":"Zac Taylor Named Among Five Coaches With Hottest Seats Entering 2026 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CINCINNATI \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>The pressure is on Zac Taylor this fall.<\/p>\n

FOX Sports writer Ralph Vacchiano has him as the fifth-most likely coach to get fired entering the season on his hot-seat rankings.\u00a0According to The\u00a0Athletic’s\u00a0Paul Dehner Jr., Taylor has one more season left on his contract after the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

“He is still around for two reasons: 1) Nobody can seriously blame him for the run of injuries to\u00a0Joe Burrow; and 2) The Bengals are notoriously cheap and don\u2019t want to pay him not to coach,” Vacchiano wrote. “But even the Bengals owners have their breaking point, right? If Burrow is healthy in 2026, there is no reason this team shouldn\u2019t make the playoffs and compete for the AFC North title, and given how much money the Bengals have put into this roster \u2014 mostly on offense \u2014 those should be the least of their expectations.<\/p>\n

“Also, everyone noticed how unhappy Burrow looked at the end of last season. By all accounts, he is in\u00a0Taylor\u2019s\u00a0corner (for now). But if the losing continues, and he grows unhappier, will that change? At some point, they might want to pair one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL with a more competent coach.”<\/p>\n

Taylor\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0forthcoming with details about that private contract extension that leaves him one year away from a lame-duck season if things\u00a0don’t\u00a0go well enough to earn an extension.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think it really matters,\u201d\u00a0Taylor said in December when asked directly about the reported extension.\u00a0\u201cI coach every day like\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0my last. And\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been through years in 2019, 2020, that were literally, you coach every game thinking it could be your last game and have seen how we responded after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Taylor’s had a decent defensive depth chart to work with and Joe Burrow on the field, Cincinnati\u00a0has\u00a0won at a more-than palatable level.\u00a0It’s\u00a0the execution in the face of rough situations that leaves\u00a0Taylor’s\u00a0status in doubt entering his eighth season at the helm.<\/p>\n

Taylor’s team got wrecked by injury in 2025,\u00a0losing SIS’s ninth-most Total Points\u00a0to ailments in the NFL last season.<\/p>\n

All of this can wash away quickly. Cincinnati has every reason to spend on defensive free agents next month to complement an uber-rare amount of offensive continuity. If the Bengals stay healthy,\u00a0Taylor’s\u00a0shown he can lead them to great places.<\/p>\n