Zac Taylor Named Among Five Coaches With Hottest Seats Entering 2026 Season

CINCINNATI — The pressure is on Zac Taylor this fall.

FOX Sports writer Ralph Vacchiano has him as the fifth-most likely coach to get fired entering the season on his hot-seat rankings. According to The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., Taylor has one more season left on his contract after the 2026 campaign.

"He is still around for two reasons: 1) Nobody can seriously blame him for the run of injuries to Joe Burrow; and 2) The Bengals are notoriously cheap and don’t 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’t make the playoffs and compete for the AFC North title, and given how much money the Bengals have put into this roster — mostly on offense — those should be the least of their expectations.

"Also, everyone noticed how unhappy Burrow looked at the end of last season. By all accounts, he is in Taylor’s corner (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."

Taylor wasn't forthcoming with details about that private contract extension that leaves him one year away from a lame-duck season if things don't go well enough to earn an extension.

“I don’t think it really matters,” Taylor said in December when asked directly about the reported extension. “I coach every day like it’s my last. And I’ve been 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.”

When Taylor's had a decent defensive depth chart to work with and Joe Burrow on the field, Cincinnati has won at a more-than palatable level. It's the execution in the face of rough situations that leaves Taylor's status in doubt entering his eighth season at the helm.

Taylor's team got wrecked by injury in 2025, losing SIS's ninth-most Total Points to ailments in the NFL last season.

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, Taylor's shown he can lead them to great places.

Check out the full list from FOX Sports here.

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