If the Bengals decide to move on from Marvin Lewis after 15 seasons as head coach, these could be five replacements for him in 2018.
With Marvin Lewis being in the final year of his contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, the organization and the head coach have agreed to part ways after 15 years leading the team to no playoff victories. While Lewis brought stability to what was the worst franchise in the NFL in the 1990s, he went 0-7 in his seven trips to the AFC playoffs.
Cincinnati frankly missed its window in 2014-15 to do something. The Bengals have Pro Bowlers and elite coaching talent out the wazoo with the organization. As one player or coach would leave the Queen City, the Bengals would begin to resemble one of the most mediocre teams in the AFC by the minute.
Lewis had strung together a few one-year deals to keep coaching the Bengals. Cincinnati has its own inherent dysfunction but was not willing to part ways with its long-time head coach until now. This will be a new era of Bengals football, maybe, as the Brown family could absolutely bring back a familiar face to lead the team for the next decade-plus.
Either way, Cincinnati will be one of many teams that will hop on the coaching carousel after the 2017 NFL season. Since it’s been so long since the Bengals have looked for a head coach, this could be a long and well thought out interviewing process for the organization. Here are five coaches the Brown family could definitely hire to replace Lewis in 2018.
Would they dare? Maybe. Actually this wouldn’t be a bad hire. Nobody doubts that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley can coach. He’s been one of the best offensive minds and play callers in the game for a very long time. However, his previous tenure as the Kansas City Chiefs coach didn’t exactly go over well.
Haley would join the Steelers in 2012 after being let go by Kansas City in 2011. He had the tall task of replacing Bruce Arians as Steelers offensive coordinator, but has done a marvelous job the last six years in giving the Pittsburgh offense serious bite.
Cincinnati is usually envious of Pittsburgh, so this hire could be a good move to make the Bengals better by making the Steelers worse in the process. Pittsburgh does not have the heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger. It’s not like Haley or Roethlisberger are on speaking terms anyway. This could be the right time for Haley to dip out of the Steel City and get himself a second head coaching gig.
Given that the Bengals gave Lewis 15 years, Haley will have a sufficient amount of time to rebuild this bland Bengals roster from the ground up. He could chose to bring back capable Andy Dalton, sign somebody else to quarterback his club in free agency or get a 20-year-old coming out of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Haley is not for everybody, but there are a few teams that could make sense for him to go to. If Cincinnati does want an offensive-minded head coach to replace the defensive-minded Lewis, there are certainly worse candidates than Haley. He could stick it to the Steelers if he walks into The Jungle as the top cat in 2018.