Marvin Lewis is out: What’s next for the Cincinnati Bengals?

The Bengals have finally let go of Marvin Lewis, ending one of the most frustrating coaching tenures in NFL history.

Sure, there were plenty of great moments under Lewis’ watch, but even his best moments ended with brutal postseason exits. And it’s become clear in recent years that Lewis simply isn’t cut out to be the team’s head coach anymore as the Bengals floundered to three-straight losing seasons.

Now, Lewis is gone, and the Bengals are searching for a new head coach.

The question is, who will that be?

There have been rumors of a possible succession plan in which Hue Jackson would become the team’s head coach. This was actually a plan Lewis floated to owner Mike Brown in the 2016 offseason as Jackson was drawing head coaching interest.

Brown shot the idea down, and Jackson ultimately became head coach of the Browns, where he would have one of the worst three-year coaching stretches in sports history, going 3-36 before being fired midway through the 2018 season.

Then, Jackson was brought back to Cincinnati to be a special assistant to Lewis. That brought about speculation that the succession plan was back on whenever Lewis decided to retire.

Thing is, Lewis didn’t retire. He was fired, so you have to wonder if Jackson is still a legitimate candidate in the eyes of Brown.

If Jackson is not in the running, then it gets really interesting since Brown hasn’t made a head coaching hire since 2003. A lot has changed since then, as the Bengals have a lot more to work with compared to their personnel in 2003 after finishing as the worst team in football.

Now, the Bengals have a great core of players in Geno Atkins, A.J. Green, Carlos Dunlap, Jessie Bates, Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, William Jackson, Carl Lawson and Andy Dalton. That will make this an attractive destination for a potential head coach, especially one who is more offensive-minded.

The Bengals also hold the 11th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, so whoever the next coach is will have a premium draft pick to work with.

There has also been speculation that Vance Joseph, who was just fired by the Broncos, could be in the running for the head-coaching job. However, that also included the caveat of ‘whenever Lewis decides to retire.’

So again, because Lewis was fired, you have to wonder if Joseph is even a legitimate candidate in Brown’s eyes.

So, who do you ‘want’ the Bengals to hire, and who do you ‘think’ they will hire?