Zac Taylor Somehow Survived Insane AFC North Shake Up

Pittsburgh Steelers legend Mike Tomlin announced that he will be stepping down from his role as head coach after a blowout loss to the Houston Texans to finish the season.

Tomlin had been the Steelers' head coach since 2007, the same year Apple announced the iPhone.

This situation feels like a bit of a soft firing for Tomlin. He was still under contract for two more years, and with his lack of playoff success since his early career Super Bowl, it felt like both sides needed a change of scenery.

Tomlin is one of the most successful coaches in the league, but the Steelers' decision to move on from him makes me think they could be entering a rebuilding era without him.

With Pittsburgh moving on from Tomlin, there are now three open coaching positions in the AFC North.

Interestingly enough, Zac Taylor, who many believe is the worst coach in the division, has managed to keep his job for another season.

It honestly makes no sense to me how Taylor has managed to keep his job. I know Bengals’ owner Mike Brown is notoriously cheap, but not wanting to pay a buyout shouldn’t be enough of an excuse to not find a new coach.

Both Pittsburgh and Baltimore moved on from their Super Bowl-winning coaches, who have had far more recent success than Cincinnati.

Taylor hasn’t won more than nine games in three seasons, he has a losing record, and his teams have been absolute disasters anytime Joe Burrow has missed time.

Burrow’s all-world ability to operate without an offensive line has masked many of the coaching issues Cincy has dealt with under the Taylor regime.

In defense of the Bengals, there are a ton of coaching vacancies this year, and the pool of coaches available seems to be smaller than normal.

That, paired with all of the injuries Cincinnati has dealt with recently, could be enough to earn Zac Taylor another look.

If I were a Bengals fan, I would’ve wanted to see a coaching change.

Burrow has seemed far more frustrated than normal, and running it back with an underwhelming coach makes me think Burrow could eventually want out of Cincy.

When he’s healthy, the Bengals haven’t seen quarterback play even close to what they’ve gotten out of Burrow.

It would be a shame if poor management is the reason the Bengals lose their hometown superstar.