Houston Texans: 5 Candidates for head coach vacancy
By Brian Emory
Marvin Lewis: Arizona State co-Defensive Coordinator
Please, do not start throwing tomatoes at me yet. I get it, on paper Marvin Lewis is not the sexiest name to consider. When selecting a new head coach you crave a flashy and exciting name. Not the retread choice with an 0-7 playoff record as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
It has been rumored that Marvin Lewis could be back in contention for NFL head coaching jobs, and I think it really could make some sense for the Houston Texans. I know, the playoff record in Cincinnati quite literally could not be any worse. But let us take a step back and consider just how dreadful Cincinnati’s franchise history is under the leadership of anyone but Lewis.
In his 16 years in Cincinnati, Lewis guided the Bengals to the playoffs seven times. In fact, Lewis is responsible for half of the playoff berths in franchise history. In the 37 years the Bengals franchise has been coached by anyone but Lewis, they only have seven other playoff appearances.
The point I am trying to make here is that Cincinnati is not necessarily an easy place to win, but Lewis made it happen there. There of course is some concern that as the NFL modernizes Lewis is an old-school coach from the past. That absolutely is not what you need with a dazzling young quarterback like Deshaun Watson.
After the rocky end to the Bill O’Brien era, the consistent and steady leadership of someone like Lewis could be just what Houston needs to get back into the playoffs as soon as possible. If he surrounds himself with young, forward-thinking coordinators it could be the perfect balance of experience and excitement.
This would not even be close to as egregious as the Los Angeles Rams giving Jeff Fisher a second chance at being a head coach. That is a lazy comparison as Fisher never had anywhere close to the sustained record of success that Lewis boasts.