How truly committed to winning is Mike Brown?

Mike Brown’s statement of confidence in Zac Taylor probably had the opposite effect— fans’ trust in the Bengals is lower than ever.

Brown said he is still “bullish” on his head coach. Either that means he hates winning or he’s lying. Yes, Taylor is still young, but honestly, what has he shown that would make you “bullish” on him after only six wins in two years?

Fans are so desperate for a glimmer of hope that they treat every win as the turning point. But Taylor and his staff quickly remind us that they have no idea what they’re doing. The team took a slumping Pittsburgh Steelers team by surprise, torched a non-existent Houston Texans defense, and then crashed and burned against the Baltimore Ravens in the finale.

So where’s the hope? Lou Anarumo is back, even though the defense is still ranked near the end of the league despite spending lavishly on that department last offseason.

The team hasn’t officially moved on from Jim Turner yet, but even if they do, who would want to come here and coach a position on which the frugal owner has proven time and time again he chooses not to spend? Further, Brown won’t even hire a proper scouting department, which has negatively impacted how they draft o-linemen more than any other position.

And before you say, “Mike Brown isn’t even in charge anymore!”, I ask you: then why was he the one to come out and defend the coach? It’s his team. He owns it, and yes, he has entrusted his daughter and son-in-law with a lot of the day-to-day duties. But he clearly still has the ultimate say. And it will remain that way until he hires a GM.

The biggest problem with Brown isn’t that he’s incompetent. It’s that he’s cheap. That’s why he won’t take risks— he doesn’t want to pay a coaching staff that no longer works for him.

As John Sheeran and I discuss on the #1 Bengals Podcast, the Los Angeles Chargers moved on from Anthony Lynn even though his rookie quarterback far exceeded expectations, the team finished on a four-game winning stream, and he won nine and twelve games his first two seasons. And the Chargers are considered a poorly-run franchise. What does that make the Bengals?

John Sheeran and I took a deep dive into the (lack of) coaching changes and Brown’s vision for the team in the video below:

You can also listen on iTunes or using the player below: