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.
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.
| Number of coaches[6] | ||
| Yrs | Years coached | |
| First | First season coached | |
| Last | Last season coached | |
| GC | Games Coached | |
| W | Wins | |
| L | Loses | |
| T | Ties | |
| Win% | Win – Loss percentage | |
| † | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach | |
| ‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player | |
| Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Bengals |
Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
| Image | Name | Term[7] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yrs | First | Last | GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | |||||
| 1 | † | 8 | 1968 | 1975 | 112 | 55 | 56 | 1 | 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) | [8] | ||
| 2 | 3 | 1976 | 1978 | 33 | 18 | 15 | 0 | — | [9] | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | 1978 | 1979 | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | — | [10] | ||||||
| 4 | ‡ | 4 | 1980 | 1983 | 57 | 32 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 AFC Championship (1981) 1 AFC Central Championship (1981) 2 Playoff Berths 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year Award (1981) | [11] | ||
| 5 | 8 | 1984 | 1991 | 121 | 61 | 66 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 AFC Championship (1988) 2 AFC Central Championships (1988, 1990) 2 Playoff Berths | [12] | |||
| 6 | 5 | 1992 | 1996 | 71 | 19 | 52 | 0 | — | [13] | ||||||
| 7 | 5 | 1996 | 2000 | 60 | 21 | 39 | 0 | — | [14] | ||||||
| 8 | ‡ | 3 | 2000 | 2002 | 45 | 12 | 33 | 0 | — | [15] | |||||
| 9 | 16 | 2003 | 2018 | 256 | 131 | 122 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 4 AFC North Championships (2005, 2009, 2013, 2015) 7 Playoff Berths 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year Award (2009) | [16] | |||
| 10 | 5 | 2019–present | 82 | 37 | 44 | 1 | .457 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 AFC Championship (2021) 2 AFC North Championships (2021, 2022) 2 Playoff Berths | [17] | |||