Butler's Zac Taylor named head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals

Former Butler Community College quarterback Zac Taylor has been named head coach of the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals. He becomes the first Butler alumni to hold that title in the NFL.

Taylor played at Butler in 2004 and led the Grizzlies to an 11-1 season and a berth in the national championship game that year. He threw for 29 touchdowns and was an All-American for the Grizzlies.

Taylor mentioned Butler in his introductory press conference.

"Aaron Flores and Troy Morrell at Butler County Community College were some people gave me confidence as a player and were great teachers," Taylor said. "Those were my playing days, but when you're around great teachers that really teach you the game at that level, it makes it a natural progression to go into coaching."

After playing at Butler, Taylor transferred to the University of Nebraska, where he would go on to win Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2006.

Taylor would sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but did not make the team. After one season in the Canadian Football League, he began his coaching career at Texas A&M.

In 2012, he made the jump to the NFL as an assistant receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins. In 2015, he was Miami's interim offensive coordinator for the final five games of the season.

Taylor went back to the collegiate ranks for one season, serving as the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2016.

In 2017, he was back in the NFL with the Rams as assistant receivers coach and spent the 2018 as the quarterbacks coach, working with Jared Goff as the Rams went 13-3 and beat the Cowboys and Saints in the playoffs before falling to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Taylor is married to Sarah (Sherman) and they have four children: Brooks, Luke, Emma Claire, and Milly.

Zac was not the only Taylor to play at Butler. His younger brother, Press, won two national titles as a Grizzly in 2007 and 2008 and is currently an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, where he won a Super Bowl ring following the 2017 season.