The Bengals remain poised to hire Rams quarterback coach Zac Taylor whenever his season ends, and while he has been entrenched with preparing the team for the NFC Championship Game, his potential staff is slowly coming into focus.
Sources said that Raiders quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, son of legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan, would be a top choice to serve as an offensive coordinator, while the defensive staff is likely to be considerably more experienced. Taylor would like be able to mirror the model Rams coach Sean Taylor put in place, landing an accomplished defensive coordinator who himself had prior experience as a head coach. In this case, former Jaguars and Raiders coach Jack Del Rio and former Panthers, Broncos and Bears coach John Fox are very high on his list, with hopes of landing one of them to run his defense.
Del Rio is still getting paid by the Raiders, who let him go a year ago after previously rewarding him with a new contract and extension, and it remains to be seen if he is interested in returning to coordinating duties. Fox has become an analyst for ESPN since the Bears let him go but was long considered one of the best coordinators in the game.
The Bengals have yet to enter into any contract talks with Taylor, with owner Mike Brown following the letter of the NFL law in regard to coaches who remain under contract to other teams and still participating in the playoffs. But Taylor is far and away the team's top choice to replace Marvin Lewis. He would become the second of McVay's assistants to get a head coaching job in the two years he has served as head coach of the Rams, and his role in the offense and working with the quarterbacks has been substantial.
