CINCINNATI — The game was called “Punt Return.”
When he was 13, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor would drag his 8-year-old brother Press out onto the 10-yard patch of grass in their Norman, Okla., front yard.
“I’d throw the ball up,” Zac Taylor said, “and tackle him.”
At that age, most of their games ended the game way.
“Me losing and getting upset. …” said Press, who is entering his first year as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. “It wasn’t always fair.”
As they grew older, the games got more serious — and developed higher stakes. As NFL coaches, they’ve faced each other six times, with outcomes recorded on the Taylor Bro Bowl Trophy, which resides in the office of Sherwood Taylor, their father and former Oklahoma defensive back.
Saturday’s exhibition game at Paycor Stadium won’t count in the official standings of the NFL — or on the trophy — but Thursday’s joint practice and Saturday’s game provide the perfect excuse for a family reunion. Press’ wife and four kids came to town, as did the coaches’ parents and two sisters.
When Bears tight end Colston Loveland caught a pass from Caleb Williams and rumbled for a 58-yard touchdown in the final seconds of last year’s road win, Press, who was then the Bears’ pass-game coordinator, took a 3-2-1 lead in the series. When Press worked for the Eagles, they tied the Bengals in 2020.
“It was the worst,” he said. “We met at midfield and were like, ‘What just happened?’”
The Taylors — Zac is 43 and Press 38 — both played quarterback at the same high school and junior college. Zac transferred to Nebraska and Press to Marshall. They’ve never coached on the same staff, though.
Zac was plucked off the Sean McVay tree — he was the Rams’ quarterbacks coach — in 2019 and is now the fifth-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL. Press spent seven years with the Eagles and one with the Colts before being named the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator in 2022. He traded off play-calling duties with head coach Doug Pederson for three years before Ben Johnson hired him on his first staff. Johnson promoted him in February to replace Declan Doyle, having been impressed by just how meticulously organized he was.
Press has film cutups of college and pro games dating back 15 years, sorted by effectiveness against certain schemes and coordinators. Sometimes, during the offseason, he’ll share some of his database with his brother.
It was that attention to detail that led to the most famous play-call in modern NFL history. When he was a low-level Eagles assistant in 2017, offensive coordinator Frank Reich asked Press for his five best plays. He went into his files and found “Clemson Special,” which the Bears ran against the Vikings the year before. At the 2, quarterback Matt Barkley walked to the line of scrimmage and shifted right. Running back Jeremy Langford took a direct snap left and handed it to Cam Meredith on an end around. Meredith threw to Barkley for a touchdown.
The Eagles renamed it “Philly Special” and ran it in a Super Bowl win against the Patriots.
“He’s the most organized coach I’ve ever been around at this level,” said Johnson, who worked with Zac Taylor in Miami. “He’s got libraries of plays. He knows when we’re going against this defensive coordinator, we can go to this little section that he’s already got labeled for that guy and that particular scheme and the things that have given them issues in the past. And that gives us a good starting point each and every week of where we can start with a game plan.”
The Bears don’t spend a lot of time game-planning for preseason games. Both Taylors, though, want to win.
“I look forward to getting after him again,” Press said.