Former Nebraska football coach and current St. Louis Rams assistant Zac Taylor has been a hot commodity in the NFL coaching carousel this winter. He was one of the first names to get mentioned when the Cleveland Browns fired Hue Jackson. He has also been interviewing with several teams in the last few weeks and has been near the top of the list for most of them. So far, being near the top of the list hasn't been the same as being at the top of the list. Two teams he was known to have interviewed with, Arizona and Denver both hired someone else.

In fact, most of the teams looking for a new coach have moved fairly quickly over the last few days to secure "their guy" apparently wanting to make sure no one else swoops them up.

While the game of musical chairs is almost over, the music hasn't stopped just yet. When it finally does, new rumors circulating on Thursday afternoon are pointing towards Taylor being the new head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. Those rumors appear to be based on a combination of conjecture, guessing and solid proof that the club has found it's guy. It's going to be a little while before Nebraska football fans learn whether they have a brand new team to root for or not.

Former Nebraska football star in the spotlight again

Rumors that the Bengals have their man started after a few of the assistants on fired head coach Marvin Lewis began telling members of the media, including longtime NFL reporter Michael Silver they were being let go. These same assistants have reportedly been told that the new head coach is going to be bringing in his own staff.

One reporter, Lars Anderson was among the first in the media to posit the theory room is being made for Taylor to take over the reins.

Anderson, it should be pointed out, is someone who has several connections to both the Nebraska football team and the NFL.

Among other tidbits on his resume, Anderson recently co-wrote a book with new Tampa Bay Bucs head coach Bruce Arians. Anderson also has a habit of dropping bits of information on Twitter. He was among the first, if not the first to report that Scott Frost had been hired as the Huskers new head coach last winter. He even pinpointed how long the contract was going to be. While he isn't being as certain of Zac Taylor, it's unlikely he would put the idea out there if there weren't at least rumblings of the hire.

Official news won't come until later

If you are someone who hopes Taylor is the hire for the Cincinnati Bengals and you don't want to wait any longer than you have to for the official word, you're going to be rooting against the Rams on Saturday night when they take on the Dallas Cowboys.

Even if an agreement has been reached, no teams are going to be making an announcement until the hire's team is out of the playoffs. That means Saturday could be a big day, even if you aren't a Nebraska football fan hoping Taylor gets his first head coaching gig. The Kansas City Chiefs and offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy also play on Saturday and the former Colorado Buffaloes running back is one assistant that has been rumored to be high on several teams' list.
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