Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I know, not too big a field. Only ‘candidates’ would be Paul Brown, Forrest Gregg, Sam Wyche, Marvin Lewis, and - already - Zac Taylor with two playoff berths to his credit with one of them a SB berth; just like both Wyche and Gregg though Zac’s got the extra AFCCG-appearance - and also the only one ever to win a road playoff game(s). Marvin made the post-season 7 times. Paul Brown, of course, is the far greater HC overall but strictly-Bengals-wise just three trips to the playoffs.

Who’s the #1 Bengals HC ever with you? Zac already? Or would just a little bit more achievement be needed?

Zt needs a super bowl title and that's all

Taylor and Burrow will decide this one. Brown might be it, until then because he took them from expansion to contenders but underachieved like the rest of them. Lewis had consistent winners but let his team become a circus ... We probably all agree that Shula was the worst.

Had Brown hired Walsh instead of Johnson, we can only imagine what he might have achieved but Brown could never throw money around like DeBartalo, so Walsh would have had to draft and coach-up prospects pretty quickly, until he found his team chemistry. A harder task in the AFC Central.

Brian wolf wrote:Taylor and Burrow will decide this one. Brown might be it, until then because he took them from expansion to contenders but underachieved like the rest of them. Lewis had consistent winners but let his team become a circus ... We probably all agree that Shula was the worst.

Had Brown hired Walsh instead of Johnson, we can only imagine what he might have achieved but Brown could never throw money around like DeBartalo, so Walsh would have had to draft and coach-up prospects pretty quickly, until he found his team chemistry. A harder task in the AFC Central.

Exactly. Walsh had the benefit of running a gimmick offense that most teams didn't defend properly, and playing in a division that was shaky in the 80's and 90's (although not as bad as the AFC Least in the Brady-Belichick era).

7DnBrnc53 wrote:

Brian wolf wrote:Taylor and Burrow will decide this one. Brown might be it, until then because he took them from expansion to contenders but underachieved like the rest of them. Lewis had consistent winners but let his team become a circus ... We probably all agree that Shula was the worst.

Had Brown hired Walsh instead of Johnson, we can only imagine what he might have achieved but Brown could never throw money around like DeBartalo, so Walsh would have had to draft and coach-up prospects pretty quickly, until he found his team chemistry. A harder task in the AFC Central.

Exactly. Walsh had the benefit of running a gimmick offense that most teams didn't defend properly, and playing in a division that was shaky in the 80's and 90's (although not as bad as the AFC Least in the Brady-Belichick era).

A gimmick offense? It's a pretty good gimmick, since teams running it have won 110 to 12 Super Bowls so far.

I'd say they probably have their best coach in franchise history right now in Taylor. He needs a few more seasons under his belt to seal the deal. Otherwise that title probably belongs to Lewis by virtue of his 5-6(?) playoff appearances. Oh if only Bill Walsh!......

gimmick offense? It's a pretty good gimmick, since teams running it have won 110 to 12 Super Bowls so far.

Some of those teams ran variations of the WCO, but not the exact offense that Walsh ran. Mike Holmgren once said something to the effect that the Packers were running different plays to what was being run by Walsh.

ChrisBabcock wrote:I'd say they probably have their best coach in franchise history right now in Taylor. He needs a few more seasons under his belt to seal the deal. Otherwise that title probably belongs to Lewis by virtue of his 5-6(?) playoff appearances. Oh if only Bill Walsh!......

That's my exact take! A couple more deep playoff seasons, that is, which I'm sure is what you meant. But for right now, even, Zac is #1 already. Leading an NFL football franchise to seven playoff appearances as a head coach is quite an accomplishment. But it's the highest level of post-season success possible, is what all should be after. That extra CCG-appearance along with being the ONLY one in franchise history to win a road playoff game which Zac, already, had done THREE times...that already places him atop Gregg/Wyche thus the top-spot at this very moment in time. Heck, he brought a Bengals team practically w/out an OL to a Super Bowl and still almost won it! Yeah, different era many would say. Such a team wouldn't have made it in a past time, but still.

Again with the extra CC-appearance and three (to zero) road playoff victories.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:

gimmick offense? It's a pretty good gimmick, since teams running it have won 110 to 12 Super Bowls so far.

Some of those teams ran variations of the WCO, but not the exact offense that Walsh ran. Mike Holmgren once said something to the effect that the Packers were running different plays to what was being run by Walsh.

Of course, that's true but any offense evolves as time goes on as other coaches adapt it. Walsh didn't even run the exact offense at San Francisco that he and Brown ran at Cincinnati, but that hardly means the original WCO was a gimmick offense. In fact, the WCO itself was rooted in the "pass and trap" offense that Paul Brown devised in the late 1940s.

Wow == this is a good question. Really, remembering back to 81, those Bengals overachieved to a point. Chargers were probably the best AFC team. When Cincy played in Super Bowl 23, I think there's a better chance that they were the best in the AFC that year. The last two seasons - I think Taylor has them playing very well and it's close. Excellent job in the AFC Championship that got them to the SB and in the SB. Really tough to answer this - obviously Paul Brown is one of the greatest of all time - and he led the Bengals to a winning record in just their third, maybe fourth season. He hired Bill Walsh but placed someone else at HC.

Taylor, right now, I would say, has had the best run. The others couldn't really sustain the level of success as well as Taylor. Especially if he continues with a couple more AFC Championship Games over the next 3-5 years.