What is the story behind Marvin Lewis becoming a coach here?

[BoomerFan]

I remember hearing people suggest that the NFL made Mike Brown take him but that's gotta be a myth right? On the other hand I've heard that Marvin was taken over Tom Coughlin (which, there is no guarantee that Coughlin would've had the same success here).

I'm coming from the perspective that Marvin did a lot for this team, especially in his early years before he ran out of energy. I'm just wondering about the methodology that led to his hire.