Bengals behind the scenes: At home with Zac Taylor's family, Part 2
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - The pressure of being an NFL coach can put a strain on a family, but Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor's wife, Sarah, came prepared. Local 12's Meghan Mongillo was able to speak with her and the entire Taylor family ahead of the football playoffs.
There's no place Sarah says she would rather be than sitting on her Cincinnati couch snuggling her daughter with a Bengals blanket.
"I remember praying that Zac would come back as a quarterback coach. In my wildest dreams I never thought we’d be here in this position that he would have the head job," she said.
The Taylor family lived in Cincinnati before he was on the coaching staff at the University of Cincinnati. Back then, in 2016, they had three children. He'd spend only a year before taking off for an NFL assistant job with the Los Angeles Rams. That move eventually lead the family right back to the Queen City.
Sarah described the moment she found out. "The day it happened, I can tell you exactly where I was," she said. "I was in my house in California. I dropped to my knees and was like, 'Is this real life?' I love it here, the people are so good."
One of the best family moments came two Sundays ago when the Bengals clinched the AFC North Title. The winning head coach left Paul Brown Stadium in a rush to get to his son's game.
11-year-old Brooks Taylor remembers it clearly. "I was playing basketball and my dad walked in and put a hat on my head. I didn't know he was going to make it," he said.
In a press conference, Zac talked about it too, saying, "I got there about 5:40. They were coming out of the half and I went and put the division hat on him on the bench, and then we went home and sat on the couch with my wife and rest of the family. It was a pretty good night for the Taylor household."
The rest of the family includes Milly, Emma Claire, and Luke. Zac remembered to get his number one fan, his wife, one of those cool hats. Sarah said he put that AFC North hat on her, too.
"It’s kind of just silence," she said. "Like, is this real?"
"Did you have tears?"Mongillo asked.
"Oh my gosh, yes," Sarah answered.
Love and football are Sarah's destiny. She and Zac met on the football field in college at Nebraska. She grew up calling Mike Sherman, longtime Green Bay Packers Head Coach, Dad. He spent more than three decades coaching pro and college teams.
Sarah says Cincinnati feels like her childhood home. "I’m from Wisconsin, so I feel like it’s very similar people take care of each other," she said. "You can get anywhere in 10 or 15 minutes. I love this city."
In a city that bleeds black and orange, you can feel the love and energy from the whole Taylor family, especially Milly, the youngest, who has her cheer ready: "Who Dey!"
