For the sake of argument (if Marvin Lewis is fired), Alex Marvez lists his first-year head coaching candidates -- the most likely scenario the Bengals follow because of obvious reasons (uh-hum, cheap). They are:
- Eagles QB Coach Pat Shurmur
- Bucs secondary coach Reheem Morris
- Dolphins assistant head coach/secondary coach Todd Bowles
- Ravens QB coach Hue Jackson.
Yep, our old "head-locked-by-scrawny-Chad-Johnson" buddy, Jackson. The point is raised after the surprising success of first-year coaches John Harbaugh (Ravens), Mike Smith (Falcons), Tony Sparano (Dolphins) and Jim Zorn (Redskins).
I'm not suggesting anything here, fellas. But let's point some things out. Some wonder if he had taken Chad Johnson down a notch early in his tenure, some of the trivial off-season crap we saw of him earlier this year (maybe) could have been avoided. In other words, taking control immediately (ala Mike Singletary). There's a guerilla-like presence in the room that Lewis might have lost favor with Mike Brown after going 8-17 since 2007 -- aka, Chris Henry re-signing. Then again, who's Mike Brown to lose favor to anyone for poor performances? Some (mostly non-fans that have quick one-sentence points to make) even point to Lewis for the questionable acquisition of character-lacking players. The Bengals have one winning season while in his sixth season.
At the same time, I believe that Lewis is in a no-win scenario. He's not getting the players he wants, trumped by the Henry signing -- is getting trumped in the draft room and in the free agency wars? He inherited an offensive coordinator that's stale, outdated, predictable and, well, just terrible. There's little "youth movement" while the team hangs onto aging players that greatly suffers the salary cap (and they did get rid of aging players in Willie Anderson, Rudi Johnson and Dexter Jackson).
I can't be certain that someone else will run the ship better than Lewis. I can't be certain that the Bengals will find someone that will improve the team. However, I'm certain that firing Lewis is, in fact, no solution at all. It's opening the door for another major front office decision and that's the biggest problem of all.
(sigh) To be a Bengals fan.