There is a rumor spreading around the Cincinnati area that Marvin Lewis could be fired by the end of the week.
Sources have informed Pro Football Central that the Cincinnati Bengals are nearing toward a decision that could result in head coach Marvin Lewis being fired by the end of the week. The source also states that owner Mike Brown is also deciding upon whether to name assistant head coach Paul Alexander or defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer as the interim head coach.
Now who knows if this rumor has anything behind it. I mean, doesn't every breaking story come from Jay Glazer, Chris Mortensen and John Clayton?
Sure, the Rams fired Scott Linehan and the Raiders fired Lane Kiffin already this week. They, like the Bengals, have gotten off to really bad starts this year. However, the Rams and Raiders are heading into bye weeks which gives their new head coaches some time to make their own adjustments. The Bengals' bye isn't until Week 10.
Also, why fire a coach "at the end of the week"? If you are going to fire an NFL coach, you usually would do it on a Monday (the day after a game) or Tuesday (the players' off day). After then, the preparation for the next game is already underway.
And these are the Bengals we are talking about. Marvin Lewis is a highly paid head coach and I'd doubt that the frugal owner Mike Brown would eat the rest of his contract for this season. Especially since there doesn't seem to be any chance of Cincinnati doing anything of note this year. You may as well just let the captain sink with the ship and start anew in 2009.
Let it be known that Brown did fire David Shula during the 1996 and accepted Bruce Coslet's resignation early in the 2000 campaign.
What is interesting in this bit of news is that defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer could replace Lewis. Bengal fans already know not to expect the team to bring on an established coach. It will be an assistant somewhere and Zimmer is already here. Despite all the problems the team has had, their defense has gotten much better than in recent years.
We all pretty much figure Lewis will be gone at some point. It is just a matter of when.
