Marvin Going Nowhere
Friday, January 11, 2008
All of the talk about the Ravens and Marvin Lewis was sparked by a sports columnist in Baltimore throwing out possible options for the Ravens next head coach. As stated in the article, the Ravens front office has not explored the possibility of grabbing Marvin. If they ever do explore the possibility, the idea will be dropped quickly. Mike Brown is a cheap and miserly owner that only deals with issues in terms of nickels and dimes, not football. Searching for and hiring a new head coach is a very expensive and time consuming undertaking. Look at all of the time and energy being expended by the other current coachless teams. Also, once a new coach is hired, that coach will want to bring in his own staff and assemble his own team structure; Again more money, more negotiations, more time, more change. Why would Mike Brown put himself through all of that work and money when he already has what he truly wants, a sold out stadium? The Ravens could offer a fair deal for Marvin in terms of football sense, but Mike Brown does not think in terms of football sense. During his tenure as team owner, Mike Brown has essentially made only one coaching hire, Marvin Lewis. Four months after taking over the Bengals in 1991, Mike Brown fired Sam Wyche over a money dispute.
He then hired Dave Shula who was already on the Bengals coaching staff. After 4.5 seasons, Shula was fired and Bruce Coslet was hired as interim coach, later to become official head coach. After Coslet quit 3 games into the 2000 season, Dick LeBeau was hired as the interim coach, later to become the official head coach. Each time, the coaching staff was kept pretty much intact as the head coach was hired from within. Over 17 years of losing and embarrassment, Mike Brown has only made full scale changes once. What are the chances of him making full scale coaching changes now with the team at .500 and a sold out stadium? I know for sure that draft picks are not going to be enough. The only way Marvin Lewis will be the head coach of the Ravens is if he forces Mike Brown's hand and gets himself fired. Other than that, Marvin Lewis will be the coach of the Cincinnati Bengals until Mike Brown has a financial need for change.
3 Comments:
So do you think Marvin should stay or not?
I think that Marvin should hire additional scouts with his own salary. Obviously Scrooge Brown has no interest in doing so. If Marvin really cares about the team and the game, he shouldn't mind giving up a small chunk of change for one year and see if it makes a difference.
It depends on whose side you are on for Marvin staying or going. I think the writing is on the wall for all coaches that take the Bengals job while Mike Brown is in charge. Remember, before Marvin was interviewed, Mike Brown interviewed Tom Coughlin. Coughlin pulled out of the job because he had demands for the front office that Mike Brown would not meet. Marvin, being a first time coach, could not make those demands so he is coaching at a disadvantage.
I think Marvin is a good coach as shown by his ability to take the Bengals to the playoffs. But with the current structure in place, the Bengals will always be a struggling franchise. I would like Marvin to stay, but for his own success, he would probably be better served somewhere else. Notice, 3 of the 4 coaches left in the playoffs right now have been fired from another job. Good players can make good coaches, but good coaches cannot make good players. Poker is easy when you have good cards, but it takes a lot of skill to win consistently with bad hands. Mike Brown has kept the Bengals scouting and free agent activity to a minimum for 17 years.
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