List of Cincinnati Bengals head coaches

This is a complete list of Cincinnati Bengals head coaches. There have been ten head coaches for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). A professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Bengals are a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC). The Bengals franchise was founded in 1968 as a member of the Western Division of the American Football League (AFL),^[1] before merging with the NFL in 1970.^[1]

The Bengals have played in Paul Brown Stadium since 2000.

The current head coach is Zac Taylor, who was hired after the 2018 season. Taylor replaced Marvin Lewis, who remains the Bengals all-time leader in seasons coached, games coached, wins, and playoff games coached. Three coaches have won a conference championship with the team: Forrest Gregg in 1981, Sam Wyche in 1988 and Taylor in 2021.^[2] Gregg leads all coaches in winning percentage with .561.^[3] Dick LeBeau had the lowest winning percentage, with .267.^[4] Of the nine Bengals head coaches, three have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Paul Brown, Forrest Gregg, and Dick LeBeau (although only Brown was inducted as a coach, the other two were inducted as players).^[5] Two former players have been head coach for the Bengals: Sam Wyche and Bruce Coslet.

Key

#	Number of coaches[N 1]
Yrs	Years coached
First	First season coached
Last	Last season coached
GC	Games Coached
W	Wins
L	Loses
T	Ties
Win%	Win – Loss percentage
00†	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00‡	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00*	Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Bengals

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2024 NFL season.

#	Image	Name	Term[N 2]			Regular season					Playoffs			Accomplishments	Ref.
			Yrs	First	Last	GC	W	L	T	Win%	GC	W	L
1		Paul Brown†	8	1968	1975	112	55	56	1	.495	3	0	3	Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (1967) 2 AFC Central Championships (1970, 1973) 3 Playoff Berths 2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year Awards (1969, 1970)	[6]
2		Bill Johnson*	3	1976	1978[N 3]	33	18	15	0	.545	—				[7]
3		Homer Rice	2	1978[N 3]	1979	27	8	19	0	.296	—				[8]
4		Forrest Gregg‡	4	1980	1983	57	32	25	0	.561	4	2	2	1 AFC Championship (1981) 1 AFC Central Championship (1981) 2 Playoff Berths 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year Award (1981)	[9]
5		Sam Wyche	8	1984	1991	121	61	66	0	.480	5	3	2	1 AFC Championship (1988) 2 AFC Central Championships (1988, 1990) 2 Playoff Berths	[10]
6		Dave Shula*	5	1992	1996[N 4]	71	19	52	0	.268	—				[11]
7		Bruce Coslet	5	1996[N 4]	2000[N 5]	60	21	39	0	.350	—				[12]
8		Dick LeBeau‡	3	2000[N 5]	2002	45	12	33	0	.267	—				[13]
9		Marvin Lewis*	16	2003	2018	256	131	122	3	.518	7	0	7	4 AFC North Championships (2005, 2009, 2013, 2015) 7 Playoff Berths 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year Award (2009)	[14]
10		Zac Taylor*	6	2019–present		99	46	52	1	.470	7	5	2	1 AFC Championship (2021) 2 AFC North Championships (2021, 2022) 2 Playoff Berths	[15]

Notes

1. A running total of the number of coaches of the Bengals. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
2. Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
3. Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0–5. The team dipped to marks of 0–8 and 1–12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games.
4. The Dave Shula era comes to a sudden end when he is fired after a 1–6 start. Bruce Coslet, the team's offensive coordinator, would replace Shula as head coach.
5. After being shut out in two of their first three games, coach Bruce Coslet resigned; he was replaced by defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.

References

General

• "CIN Coaching Records and History". Database Football. Database Sports. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
• "NFL Coach of the Year Award". HickokSports.com. February 15, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2011.

Specific

1. "History – Cincinnati Bengals". Cincinnati Bengals. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
2. "Cincinnati Bengals Championship History". NFL Team History.com. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
3. "Forrest Gregg Records, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
4. "Dick LeBeau Records, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
5. "Hall of Famers by Franchise". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
6. "Paul Brown Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
7. "Bill Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
8. "Homer Rice Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
9. "Forrest Gregg Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
10. "Sam Wyche Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
11. "Dave Shula Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
12. "Bruce Coslet Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
13. "Dick LeBeau Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
14. "Marvin Lewis Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference.
15. "Zac Taylor Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 6, 2025.