The Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals have trekked in the same direction to start the 2024 NFL season. The slow beginning has had an effect on Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor.
But given the shared surname and the proclivity for offensive football, are the two coaches members of the same family tree?
The Zac, Press Taylor Family Lineage (and Their Competitive Sibling Spirit)
The Bengals’ head coach and the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator are brothers.
The two brothers have squared off four other times in their careers before that pivotal Monday Night Football game, with the most recent coming in 2020 when Press was the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Oddly enough, that game saw neither brother come out victorious that day, as that contest ended in a 23-23 tie on Sept. 27 of that ’20 campaign.
Currently, Press and Zac Taylor are tied at 2-2-1 in head-to-head meetings. While it’s rare that both brothers cross paths on the same NFL field, the Bengals head coach shared in a Nov. 30 interview with nfl.com that their meetings do come with banter.
“It’s a fun conversation point in our family,” Zac said about the two’s previous matchups. “There’s been a lot of trash-talking about that trophy. It doesn’t come up much between me and Press anymore. We battle more on board games. But I definitely know what the record is.”
Press Taylor, meanwhile, shared in that same interview: “I’d love nothing more than to beat my big brother. That didn’t happen much growing up. But the trophy trash talk now is more between me and Zac’s sons. In the summer, when I’m around my nephews, they give it to me if I lose, and I give it to them if I win.”
Toward the end of the 2023 season, they met in a critical AFC showdown that ultimately changed the trajectory of both teams.
Before the two teams squared off in their Dec. 4, 2023 battle, Taylor’s Bengals were trying to simply stay alive in the Wild Card race while Press Taylor joined Jags head coach Doug Pederson in attempting to keep their team atop the AFC standings with their 8-3 record.
Cincinnati, though, ended up losing franchise quarterback Joe Burrow to a wrist injury. Meanwhile, Jacksonville witnessed its own scare when Trevor Lawrence was seen limping off the field late in the game with an ankle ailment. The Bengals, led by backup QB Jake Browning, won the shootout 34-31 to improve to 6-6.
But on Press Taylor and the Jaguars’ end, that loss sparked a four-game losing streak. Jacksonville, even despite Lawrence finishing out the year, ended up missing the postseason with a 9-8 mark.
Will the Taylor Brothers Meet in 2024?
Cincinnati will indeed square off with an AFC South foe in a contest that comes with a reunion angle.
However, the Bengals will face former offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on Dec. 15 — as he’s taken over the Tennessee Titans as their head coach.
MORE: Who Is on Zac Taylor’s Coaching Staff?
The only way both Taylors can share the same venue is if the Bengals and Jaguars shed their rough start and make a playoff run. While Cincy and Taylor won’t face a representative from Jacksonville’s division until December, Press Taylor and the Jaguars have already faced their AFC North opponent in the Cleveland Browns, who defeated the Jags 18-13 in Week 2.
Regardless of how it shakes out, it’ll be considered another cool family moment for the Taylor family to have a chance for one of the two to have bragging rights for at least a year.