Zac Taylor was rumored to be in the hot seat amid the Cincinnati Bengals’ massively disappointing 2025 NFL season. The franchise apparently has other ideas about their head coach, as they have reportedly silenced the rumors by announcing that he will return for at least another year. Stephen A. Smith disagrees with their decision and explained why in a fiery rant.
Zac Taylor Called Out by Stephen A. Smith After Bengals Retain Him
Black Monday is the name given to the day immediately following the conclusion of the NFL regular season. It represents the day that many franchises decide to make major changes to their staff, including struggling teams firing their head coaches. Many around the league believed Taylor would be one of them, but the Bengals will reportedly keep him instead.
Smith ranted during an episode of “First Take” that he disagrees with their decision to retain him. He described them as being hopeless without Joe Burrow and that their overall failures, especially when he’s unavailable, fall directly on Taylor.
“That man need to go. He can’t coach without Joe Burrow, at all. I mean, there are other components … but somehow, someway they manage to lose games … I have called for an investigation into what this man is doing in the offseason, because come September, they are almost never ready to play … Whenever Joe Burrow goes down, they forget how to win, and I’m just tired of it … I think they should have made a change,” stated Smith.
“That man need to go. He can’t coach without Joe Burrow.” 😳@stephenasmith reacts to the Bengals deciding to retain their head coach, Zac Taylor 🏈 pic.twitter.com/GieHIlY7ib
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 5, 2026
Taylor has been the head coach of the Bengals since the 2019 season, and as Smith pointed out, he has severely struggled whenever Burrow hasn’t been his starting quarterback. He has a solid 45-32-1 record in games that Burrow has begun, but a miserable 9-28 record in the games that Burrow hasn’t played in.
The alarming splits are one of the main reasons why Smith believes that the Bengals would have been better off making a change. The 2025 NFL season is a typical example of this exact situation, as Burrow went 5-3 as a starter this year, but the Bengals went 1-8 in the nine games that he missed due to injury.
Despite the lengthy absence, Burrow still managed to finish among the top ten quarterbacks in PFSN’s Impact Rankings for this season. This further demonstrates his elite value, and their pathetic record in games that he’s unavailable doesn’t look good for Taylor’s abilities as a head coach. Regardless, he will apparently remain with the Bengals for at least one more season.
