Bengals Coach Helped Tannehill Become the Player He Is Today

Zac Taylor was as assistant coach at Texas A&M during the quarterback's four years there, and with Miami during Tannehill's first four NFL seasons.

Familiarity is a storyline every week in the NFL. Some, however, are bigger stories than others.

That is the case for Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor this week.

The veteran quarterback and the second-year head coach have eight years of experience together, and it all started when both were just trying to find their way in 2008. Tannehill was Texas A&M’s backup quarterback. Taylor, a former quarterback who had a short-lived NFL career, was just starting his coaching career as an offensive assistant of Texas A&M.

The pair spent four years together in College Station followed by four more years with the Miami Dolphins (2012-2015).

Sunday, they will square off against each other for the first time.

“I learned a ton of football from Zac [Taylor],” Tannehill said. “I have so much respect for him, the way he coaches the game, his work ethic, and just how he puts so much time and effort into preparing me each and every week. I definitely learned a lot of football from (Taylor) and am appreciative of all he did for me.”

When the Dolphins drafted Tannehill with the eighth overall pick in 2012, so much was familiar for Tannehill. Taylor was his assistant quarterbacks coach, and former Texas A&M head coach Mike Sherman was then the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator.

Taylor said it helped Tannehill transition smoothly to life as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

“Certainly, for a rookie to come in and already know everything about the offense from day one helped him right away,” Taylor said on Thursday. “He very well may have won the job anyway had it been a new offense, but of course his familiarity with the offense from day one helped him instruct some of the veteran players on some of the nuances of the offense.”

Tannehill had a mostly up-and-down stint in Miami. The Dolphins were nothing more than a mediocre football team, and the quarterback dealt with a handful of injuries that held him back.

However, he had his best statistical seasons in Miami in 2015, when Taylor was on the offensive staff as a quarterbacks coach and as the interim offensive coordinator for five games. Tannehill threw for more than 4,000 yards twice (2014, 2015) and at least 20 touchdowns while completing more than 60 percent of his passes in three of those four seasons.

The Dolphins decided to revamp their coaching staff at the conclusion of the 2015 campaign. In a way, that also marked the beginning of the end for Tannehill’s time in Miami. He started the 2016 season out hot but sustained a torn ACL in Week 14 and missed the remainder of that season and the Dolphins’ Wild Card playoff game. He again tore his ACL in training camp before the 2017 season and missed the entire season.

He appeared in just 11 games in 2018, and the Dolphins traded him to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for draft picks.

With the Titans, of course, Tannehill has revived his career. After taking over as starter in Week 6 of the 2019 season, Tannehill led the Titans to seven wins in 10 games en route to the postseason and the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

He earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl, was named Comeback Player of the Year honors and then in the offseason signed a four-year contract extension.

Tannehill’s success story has spilled over into this season. Through the first six games, Tannehill has been one of the top quarterbacks in the league, completing 139 passes on 203 attempts for 1,590 yards and 15 touchdowns, which is tied for second among all quarterbacks.

None of what has transpired has surprised Taylor, who said Tannehill is “the perfect quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.”

“Very happy for him. He’s a great human being, great teammate, very coachable, very hard on himself,” Taylor said. “There is not a lot of weakness to his game. He’s got a lot of strength, and you can just see his confidence right now. The team really believes in him.”

And on Sunday, Taylor will try to defeat the player he has built such a strong relationship with for the first time in his career.

“He poses a very difficult challenge for us,” Taylor said. “Not only do they have a great running game, great receivers, but they have a quarterback who is playing at one of the highest levels in the league right now. He’s really impressive.”