Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was joined by former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress Thursday night for dinner at Jeff Ruby's, many local sources (Joe Reedy, Dennis Janson, Geoff Hobson) reported. The news prompted unsubstantiated conjecture that Lewis could be dining with Childress to be the team's eventual offensive coordinator, especially with "Butch" saying that the two were going over X's and O's. Kind of makes it difficult to conclude that it's a social visit, which in reality, it could be.
As of this posting, Bob Bratkowski remains as the team's offensive coordinator until the Bengals make an official announcement that suggests otherwise.
The venerable one, John Thornton, who continues a tradition of former Bengals players transitioning into respected members of the media (as has Artrell Hawkins), chimed in with his point of view writing:
I asked someone from the Bengals their thoughts and they said it was the first they heard about it. So if they didn’t hear, Marvin could be just getting ideas from Chilly. Or my peeps could just be keeping quiet. But given the loyalty that the Bengals show their employees, I doubt Brat would get fired at this point. Why take him to Senior Bowl, make him coach, then fire him? If Chilly came in, I see him as a offensive consultant, kinda like Tom Moore is in Indy. Childress is still getting paid for the next few years by the Vikings, he signed a big extension last season. So coming to Cincy would have to be a good situation for him, stepping stone for next job.
We completely agree with his point about the Senior bowl, asking why take Bratkowski if you're planning on getting rid of him anyway. And Bengals fans from the previous posting have met the news with enough enough chill that makes standing outside in Cincinnati seem like a global warming today.
Marvin Lewis said earlier on Thursday, before the meeting with Childress:
"They're clamoring for heads and I understand that. I'm not ready to give them heads and we'll see what happens. I understand the frustration. Minimal (staff changes) might make things better, more productive. How do you get up and going? You have to be prepared…A new system, a new nomenclature is harder."