Could the longtime head coach of the Bengals enter the season on the hot seat?
The Cincinnati Bengals and their long time head coach Marvin Lewis have yet to discuss a contract extension prior to the 2017 season. Lewis himself noted that there hadn’t been any talks and that he expects to enter to season on the last year of his contract.
Lewis did mention to the Cincinnati Enquirer in January that the Bengals and he would like to work on an extension at some point prior to the season, but his tone seems to have changed since then.
“It’s not really a subject that’s on my mind,” Lewis said. “I don’t think it’s on Mike’s mind, either. I’ve gone into many seasons without a new contract. It’s not a focus for me.”
Lewis has been with the Bengals since 2003, which makes him the second-longest tenured head coach in the NFL behind New England Patriots Bill Belichick.
The Bengals, however, are coming off a very disappointing season in 2016. The Bengals finished third in the AFC North with six wins and nine losses with one tie to the Washington Redskins. Lewis may finally find himself on the hot seat after such a long tenure with the Bengals.
Lewis holds the Bengals record for the most wins in franchise history, but the Achilles heel of his coaching career has been winning in the postseason.
Lewis has failed to win any of his seven playoff appearances as the team’s head coach and that’s been his biggest downfall of putting himself in the upper ranks of the coaching world.
The Bengals lead the NFL with the longest drought of not winning a postseason game (last playoff win came in 1990) and that could be weighing heavily on team owner Mike Brown’s as he gets older.
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It’ll be interesting to see if the Bengals finally pull the plug on Lewis if the team doesn’t perform up to expectations or fails to finally win a playoff game.