Can Bengals management be trusted to make the right decision at head coach?

For the first time in almost two decades, the Cincinnati Bengals are in the market for a new head coach. Owner Mike Brown loved the idea of continuity with Marvin Lewis at the helm for so long, but the team slowly began to devolve into squads resembling those of the mid-1990s.

Now, Brown and the rest of Bengals management is tasked finding someone to fill relatively large shoes left by Lewis. Give credit to the Bengals, as they seem to be doing their due diligence in the process with candidates from both inside and outside of the organization getting looks.

But can the triumvirate of he, Katie Blackburn and Duke Tobin be trusted in hiring a coach who can not only carry the torch from Lewis, but also to bring the team out of the caves of mediocrity?

This was one of the topics we discussed on this week’s episode of The Orange and Black Insider. Co-host John Sheeran was a bit more optimistic than some on the abilities of management.

“Believe it or not, Mike Brown is on a winning streak right now because he fired Marvin Lewis,” Sheeran said. “I guess that creates the benefit of the doubt, and it depends on how big of a benefit you want to give him....we don’t really have a choice but to trust him (Brown).

“The last time they looked for a head coach, they narrowed it down to two of the hottest names out there (Lewis and Tom Coughlin),” Sheeran continued. “They hired a pretty decent one in Marvin Lewis and it degenerated to where it is now. They need to progress into contenders and that’s going out and getting a high-profile head coaching candidate who does things his own way to assert more power in the organization. Again, none of us expected this day to come, so now that it has, maybe you just have to sit back and think that maybe he (Brown) is going to do what he did last time, which is go out and get the best guy available.”

My worries stem not only from making the right decision at head coach, but in Brown’s potential reeling in of power and resources he once gave to Lewis. It took some major charisma, a previous Super Bowl ring and a constant chiseling away at Brown by Lewis to modernize the once-beleaguered Bengals.

And, it never led to a championship.

So, does that mean that Brown won’t be buying into more organizational changes from another coach because it didn’t achieve the ultimate goal? Or, will Brown actually see the progress made in the foundation laid by Lewis and allow another affable head coach to build upon it?

Personally, I’m hesitant to believe that Brown will fully empower a coach, especially if it’s largely one where he has the most say. He has long believed that “his way” can work and he may take advantage of a young coach who will take a rare NFL head coaching job, even if it means his legs are taken out from under him, so to speak.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a separate general manager at a time like this?

We spent the show talking all things Bengals coaching, so aside from worrying about management potentially botching the upcoming decision, here are some other items we discussed:

• What is Marvin Lewis’ legacy after 16 years in Cincinnati?
• Was there any shock in his firing?
• As of recently, did it actually seem like the game had passed Lewis by?
• Though names like Shane Waldron and Zac Taylor are hot commodities on the coaching market, there is gigantic risk in teams like the Bengals “trying to find the next Sean McVay”.
• Who is the most intriguing name of linked potential outside hires?
• If the Bengals are looking at hiring an internal candidate that was on Lewis’ staff, they may as well have just kept Lewis.
• Was it the ugly sweep by the Browns and the massive national headlines that came after it that sealed Lewis’ fate? After all the Brown family has a major disdain for the Cleveland franchise.

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