Bengals once led NFL coaching diversity charge. Now, they're part of the problem
The Cincinnati Bengals have the least-diverse staff in the NFL this season, with non-white coaches making up 24% of Zac Taylor’s staff. No other NFL staff has less than 30% non-white coaches.
What jumps out about the Bengals isn’t simply their numbers. It’s that Taylor’s staff is a veritable bingo card of reasons why minority coaches don’t advance in the NFL.
Family ties? Agent connections? Six degrees of Sean McVay? Head coach ascent from quarterbacks coach? White coaches at the "thinking person" positions and Black men in the running back and wide receiver rooms? A wunderkind white coach making a quick rise from offensive assistant or the scouting department to positions that lead directly into the head coaching pipeline?
The Bengals have 'em all. Multiple examples, in some cases. If you wanted a case study of why the NFL’s diversity woes continue, the Bengals would be it.
Read Paste BN Sports' entire series on NFL coaching diversity:
- 'Positional segregation:' Trend rampant in the NFL, leaving Black coaches stuck in the pipeline
- 'Didn't look the part': The reasons Black coaches don't get NFL head coaching jobs
- Graphic novel: A brief history of Black NFL coaches
- An interactive story: Which NFL teams have the most diverse coaching staffs?
- Video: Paste BN Sports investigates where diversity is lacking in NFL coaching staffs across the league, and why it matters.