Zac Taylor Tried to Make Big Addition to Bengals Coaching Staff Early in His Tenure

Looking back, this would've been a major move.

Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor (hc) looks down the sidelines during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — Bengals head coach Zac Taylor tried to make a major addition to his coaching staff early in his Cincinnati tenure.

Taylor tried to hire current Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson to be a defensive coach on his staff.

"He was out [of coaching] and we didn't have any openings on offense," Taylor said on Friday. "After the '20 season probably because I made a lot of changes after the '20 season. So at the end of the '20 season we didn't have our QC's (quality control coaches) on defense. We did not have an offensive opening, so I just wanted to get him on the staff and Lou (Anarumo) knew him)."

Taylor acknowledged that he made multiple runs at Johnson. The two coached together with the Miami Dolphins from 2012-15.

Johnson was out of football for an entire offseason ahead of the 2019 campaign. He was hired by Matt Patricia as an offensive quality control coach in September, 2019. It's reasonable to think Taylor tried to hire him as a defensive coach in 2019 shortly after getting the Bengals head coaching job.

Why did Taylor hold Johnson in such high regard?

"He's just that guy," Taylor said. "If you're around him, really smart. He built all these programs for us that we still use to draw pictures and how we house everything. So he was just really smart that way to where that translates, in a QC (quality control) sense, that translates to any side of the ball. He’s smart enough to understand offensive ball, to go help the defense. You don't always want to have guys do that, but Ben could have done it, and we would have eventually got him on offense when it made sense."

Johnson went on to become the Lions tight ends coach under Dan Campbell. He coached with Campbell in Miami along with Taylor. Then he was promoted to offensive coordinator and his career took off.

Now Johnson is in his first season as head coach of the Bears. Chicago is 9-3 and enters Week 14 as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Right Move?

Nov 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Some have questioned Taylor for trying to add Johnson to his defensive staff, but it was smart of him to try to add a quality coach to his staff. Johnson's rise happened quick. He went from not having a job for the entire 2019 offseason to being the Lions offensive coordinator just a couple of years later.

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