01-04-2019, 03:02 PM
(01-01-2019, 03:10 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Here's how you do it.
First of all, Shula was a bad hire. Brown took a shot and it missed badly...but...Shula did NOT resign. He was fired after a loss in SF that left the Bengals 1-6, in 1996. That made Shula's overall record 19-52. After he was fired, mid-season, you don't do a search for new HC, you hire in-house. They did that by promoting Bruce Coslet who immediately "changed the culture of losing" and went 7-2 the rest of the year. That wasn't a "lazy hire". Retaining him for the next year was pretty much par for the course with how MB did/does things.
After the Shake and Blake sensation ran it's course and the Bengals completely fumbled with the Akili Smith debacle, Coslet's run had become stale and after they started the 2000 season 0-3, after being shut out for the 2nd consecutive game--losing 37-0 to Baltimore--Coslet quit. Again, you don't do a HC search in-season so Dick Lebeau took over. That's 2 new coaches after your very first hire, but both mid-season so it's not "lazy".
After it was apparent that Lebeau was a great DC but not a good HC, Brown did the right thing in his search for a new HC and hired Lewis. The rest, they say, is history.
None of his hires were lazy. Shula was a bad hire and he just waited way too long to make a change with Lewis.
Those are good arguments, well done Rfaulk.
