After the 2010 season, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis became a free agent. He decided to stay, and the Bengals decided they wanted to keep him. A 2012 extension pushed the deal through 2014, and a 2014 extension nudged the contract through 2015.
So Lewis is now under contract for one more year, after four straight one-and-out playoff appearances and a career record of 0-6 in the postseason. Which will prompt plenty of talk about the Bengals needing to make a change after 12 years with the same coach.
But let’s consider where the Bengals are, and let’s consider where they were before Lewis arrived. Now, the Bengals are relevant. Before Marvin became the head coach, they were the opposite.
His predecessor, Dick LeBeau, was 12-33. Bruce Coslet was 21-39. Dave Shula went 19-52. Those were the three coaches after Sam Wyche, who led the team to its most recent Super Bowl appearance (1988) and its last playoff win (1990).
The Bengals didn’t even get to the playoffs in the 11 years between Wyche and Lewis. They’ve now made it six times in Marvin’s 12 years. And at 100-95-1, Lewis is only the third coach in franchise history to generate a career record above .500. (Bill Johnson was 18-15, and Forrest Gregg went 34-27.)
While teams with more storied histories and/or more (any) pelts on the wall wouldn’t tolerate a coach who can get to the playoffs but not advance, the Bengals no longer are the bungles.
Consider this -- in the 12 seasons Lewis has been the head coach, the Bengals have one last-place finish in the AFC North, which has generated three Super Bowl winners in the past decade. Before Lewis, the Bengals finished dead last seven times in 14 years. (In the three seasons the AFC North had six teams, the Bengals finished in fifth place twice and sixth place one.)
Sure, it would be great if they could get back to the Super Bowl. Without Marvin, however, it’s more likely they’d be a lot closer to the bottom of the league than the top of it.