Like Brown said, a lot is different. He should know. He let Taylor hire the biggest coaching staff in Bengals history and Simmons has watched Taylor take it to a different place.

"It spreads things out. Gives it more detail," Simmons said of the extended staff. "We've done more situational football in the offseason than we did before the regular season. I think that's important. Our guys are going to be very in tune situationally with what to do."

Brown has an idea that Taylor is bringing back the kind of training camp he likes, the kind his father had and the kind that has evolved over the last decade. Not a lot of hitting or standing around. Keep them fresh. T.J. Houshmandzadeh was born 15 years early. Run the plays fast and get off the field in under two hours. Brown is certainly right about the hitting.

"There's no Oklahoma Drill. There's no half-line drill. There's no bull in the ring. Those are things that are no longer existent," Taylor said. "I've done half-line drills since I've been in the league. Not recently to be honest with you. And some teams still do it, so it affects a couple teams. But it's not something that directly affects our plans."

That's a no-hitter compared to some of those early Marvin camps and all of Forrest Gregg's 20 years before that.

"The schedule is different," Simmons said. "They're going to have more down time than they're used to. I wouldn't say we're going to work smartly, but we're going to work efficiently."

And it's just not the daily schedules that are different. So are the West Coast travel itineraries, which is notable since the Bengals open in Seattle Sept. 6. They also go to Oakland for a Nov. 17 game. But after coaching with the Rams for two years in Los Angeles, Taylor has the Bengals leaving the day before the game instead of two.

"Even though the kickoff there is at 1 o'clock, it feels like 4 o'clock to us, which really isn't that significant," Taylor said. "It's really the other way around when they travel the other way that it feels like an early morning game and it's important to get out there two days in advance. I saw plenty of teams come east to west and the Eagles beat us two years in a row on a one-day schedule. I've seen plenty of teams come out two days early and be really sluggish because it breaks their routine."

More changes? The one Brown really wants to see? The Bengals last Super Bowl coach, Sam Wyche, called a lot of his own plays. He preferred to call it "an eruption of ideas," from his staff and while he doesn't want to take all the credit for the calls yet to be made, Taylor believes it's important to take ownership.

"I know what I want this thing to look like," Taylor said. "And (offensive coordinator) Brian Callahan and I are lockstep. We are on the same page along with all the other coaches on this offense. It's a little bit easier to show the way initially."

It turns out Taylor is learning from Brown, too. They meet every day, usually with other members of management. But the two constants are Taylor and Brown.