Much has been said about the changes new Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zach Taylor has made to the organization in his brief time with the team.
One of the biggest pertains to clock management.
We’ve noted tht Taylor has appointed a coach specifically to prevent game-management issues, which were always a big problem for 16 years under former head coach Marvin Lewis.
Now we might know why, as it turns out Lewis never had visible clocks on practice fields, according to The MMQB’s Andy Benoit:
Like any head coach, there are several changes Taylor wants to implement, but he doesn’t want to bombard management with all of them at once. One thing he has asked for are practice clocks. For 16 years, the Bengals ran practice without any visible clocks on the field. No one ever knew how much time remained in a given session; Lewis would monitor his watch and yell to begin and end drills.
This all sounds like a lighthearted joke — but the players don’t seem to think so:
Taylor announces that new practice field clocks are arriving today, eliciting small cheers and murmurs of relief from the veterans.
In all seriousness, this approach probably varies by team throughout the league. But given Lewis’ game-management struggles, it’s at least nice to see something change.
And change continues to be the theme with Taylor. When the Bengals get training camp started Saturday, play clocks will be part of the equation.
