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UPDATE
Zac Taylor has been officially hired. There is still no word on who his defensive coordinator will be.
The Bengals are on the verge of hiring Zac Taylor as the team’s next head coach.
According to ESPN reporter Dan Graziano, Taylor and the Bengals are expected to strike a deal today, and there should be an introductory press conference on Tuesday:
Source says the expectation is that Zac Taylor will finalize his deal Monday and that the Bengals will holds a news conference Tuesday to introduce him as head coach.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) February 4, 2019
Taylor is actually in Cincinnati now, presumably to wrap up the deal:
Zac Taylor touched down at Lunken about 10 am, then headed straight to PBS with @Bengals personnel to close the deal. @WLWT pic.twitter.com/bE8KGVh3sv
— George Vogel (@vogel_wlwt) February 4, 2019
Taylor, the quarterbacks coach of the Rams, saw his season end Sunday when Los Angeles lost to the Patriots, 13-3. Taylor would probably like to take his mind off that painful loss and focus on becoming head coach of the Bengals as soon as possible.
As for who his defensive coordinator will be, Dom Capers is getting the most buzz at the moment. However, it’s not a done deal he ends up in Cincinnati, as other teams would also like to hire him, according to NFL reporter Alex Marvez.
Sources tell me Dom Capers being courted to become a senior defensive assistant by the @jaguars and @MiamiDolphins. If he doesn't become @bengals defensive coordinator, I expect him to join the @MiamiDolphins but we'll see
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) February 4, 2019
While Capers is a coaching veteran that could help show Taylor the ropes of being the head man of an NFL team, he still would be a questionable hire at best.
Then again, there may not be a better defensive coordinator candidate this late in the process. Jack Del Rio has been mentioned as someone Cincinnati is interested in, but it seems like that ship may have sailed for one reason or another.