09-13-2015, 12:12 PM
(09-13-2015, 11:40 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Although there's never been another coach that's gone 0-6 either. These other coaches, who are "consistently" making the playoffs, have won in the playoffs at some point. So you can't really compare Marvin to any one of these other coaches, who are rarely fired. He's the only one, EVER, to lose that many out of the gate.
Andy Reid, John Fox, Harbaugh are just example of guys who had way more success than Marvin who got shit canned. Love Smith had a better run, making the NFC Championship twice, and he was fired after going to 10-6. Josh McDaniels went 8-8 in his first and only complete season. He even won a playoff game. He didn't make it to the end of year 2. Todd Haley went 10-6 in year 2, after taking over a 2-14 season. He was fired in year 3 after going 7-9.
I guess my point is anyone else Marvin would have been fired. In 2008. In 2010. In 2013. Yet he still here. It's unprecedented. You can 't compare to anyone, because no team in the history of league has been stupid enough to keep a coach for well over a decade, who can't even win one stinking playoff game.
Here is my take.
2008.....Maybe about half the teams in the league would have fired him. At this point Marvin still had a little glow left from bringing the Bengals back from the worst team in the league. Many people still placed most of the blame for the Bengals failure on Mike Brown.
2010....Most of the teams in the NFL would have fired Marvin at this point. I think Marvin staying was the reason we lost stars like Johnathan Joseph and Carson Palmer.
2013...I say a majority of teams would have kept Marvin. He was coming off his best regular season ever when he was 4-0 against other playoff teams including the Patriots, Colts, and Packers (with Rodgers). And the Bengals had improved for 3 straight years.
But the big point is that you can't say the Bengals are stupid to keep Lewis because many of those other teams who were quick to fire a coach got worse instead of better. There are plenty of examples of coaches who took years to win their first playoff game. Marvin has gone longer than any other, but that does not mean it is impossible for him to break through.
Good coaches are rarely looking for a job. I'd say Fox was the only elite coach to be available in the past few years.
Many people point to Mike Zimmer, but Lewis was having too much success to go with an unproven head coach. I like Zimmer. I hope he wins a Super Bowl someday. But I am not sure that he will be a great head coach. Some great DCs have made great head coaches, but others like Buddy Ryan and Dick LeBeau have failed. Plus Mike's defenses didn't play that great in the postseason either.
So, while I have to agree that Marvin probably should have been fired after the 2010 season I am not willing to fire him now based on what he did 6 years ago.
