For better or worse over the long term, the Cincinnati Bengals are allowing new head coach Zac Taylor to pick his own staff.
This includes his hiring of offensive line coach Jim Turner despite Frank Pollack having one year left on his deal.
According to Bengals.com, management liked Pollack but deferred to their new coach: “But showing how committed Bengals president Mike Brown is to giving Taylor what he wants, he let Taylor hire his own line coach even though management loved Pollack and he had a year left on his deal.”
The writeup went on to add more context:
Taylor admires Pollack, too. They had the same college coach. Bill Callahan. But Taylor is a stickler for communication and he wanted someone he knew well for that job. Turner, a colleague at Texas A&M and Miami, was his first choice and he got him. You’ll see the outside zone again, but the way Taylor wants it.
Viewed through a positive lens, this is incredible news for Joe Mixon. He’ll be the workhorse in a zone approach that had him excelling last year.
Unfortunately, Turner’s checkered past and middling results as an NFL line coach have come under fire since the hire. Compared with Pollack’s status around the league and performance last year, it isn’t hard to wonder why the Turner hire has been the most controversial of the bunch so far.
Despite the apparent negatives here, Taylor has stressed communication and familiarity since arriving. Clearly, Bengals management trusts Taylor to decide on his staff.
