NEWSLETTER
Marvin Lewis entered the 2017 season as the second-longest-tenured coach in the NFL, but it looks like the Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach will be changing his stripes.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Lewis is planning to step away from his post as head coach of the Bengals after the 2017 season ends to pursue new coaching opportunities. Additionally, sources indicate to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that Lewis is looking to move into the front office. Considering his hands-on involvement with personnel during his time with Cincinnati, that type of move seems plausible.
Hence, we don’t believe those opportunities Schefter alluded to earlier will be in Chicago.
Lewis has spent 15 seasons in Cincinnati, coaching the team to seven playoff appearance – but ultimately, no postseason wins. Losing to the Chicago Bears in Week 14 knocked the Bengals to the brink of postseason elimination and moved the team one loss closer to consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 2007-08.
Cincinnati hired Lewis in 2003 after he spent six years at the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator (including that record-setting unit that won Super Bowl XXXV that produced four future NFL head coaches) and one year leading the way for Washington’s defense.
Lewis put a stop to the revolving door of sadness the Bengals had coaching their team. In 2005, three years into his career in Cincinnati, he put together the team’s first winning season since 1990. And in doing so, he did something David Shula, Bruce Coslet, and Dick LeBeau never did. Unfortunately, for Lewis, he wasn’t able to lead his team deep into the postseason.
When the move becomes official, the Bengals will join the New York Giants and become the second NFL team in search of a new head coach in what projects to be a busy offseason.
