LOS ANGELES (WCMH) — Some NFL coaches are shown the door after going 6-25-1 combined in back-to-back seasons. Bengals‘ coach Zac Taylor was given leeway by owner Mike Brown to shape the team, and develop his young quarterback, a decision that has paid off in spades.

“They’ve supported us through thin and now thick,” Taylor said. “I can’t think of any better way to go on this journey than the way that we’ve done it so far.”

Taylor turned around a team infamously known as the “Bungals” into Super Bowl contenders after just three years and one full season with Joe Burrow at the helm. But how did it happen?

The Cincinnati culture

Taylor’s first year in 2019 was a wash. The Bengals’ first step in the rebuild was hiring Taylor, who would then determine what kind of players fit his system, and more importantly, who fit the culture he was creating.

Much has been said about the culture in Cincinnati. It did not form once the wins started coming. It was created by Taylor, and his staff, well before this season began.

Taylor was hired by Rams’ head coach Sean McVay in 2017 to be the team’s assistant wide receivers coach before being promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2018. It was there with McVay where Taylor learned the type of culture he wanted to build if he ever ran his own team.

“Working for Sean was the best two years of my life,” Taylor said. “It was fun. You loved coming into the building every single day,” Taylor said. “We want guys who are willing to come in here and work but they enjoy the process of walking into this building, with a smile on their face every day, cause that’s how I felt every day working for him.”

Taylor’s Jungle journey

Taylor’s welcome to the jungle didn’t involve much fun when the Bengals played their games. Cincinnati went 2-14 with the only silver lining being the rights to the No. 1 overall pick. The pick seemed like fate.

Ohio’s own Joe Burrow had left the Buckeye state and won the 2019 Heisman trophy while leading LSU to arguably the most dominant season in college football history capped off by a national title. Burrow’s ascendancy carried him to the Bengals and Taylor — a quarterback coach turned head coach seeking a talented running mate.

It didn’t work overnight. Cincinnati went 2-6-1 in Burrow’s first year before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. His recovery took time and so did the Bengals strategy of bringing the right pieces onboard.

“We’ve spoken about this often over the last three years that there’s going to be hard times as you build the foundation,” Taylor said. “I’m glad that we went through that really, cause now we appreciate everything that’s happening. We’ve seen the worst of things and now we’re seeing the best of things.”

During the last two offseasons, the Bengals quietly assembled a cast of talented free agents to shore up the defense, which has ultimately made this Super Bowl run possible.