Getty Marvin Lewis during a Bengals game.
The Detroit Lions’ coaching search is coming into focus and the names for the job have been established, so who is the top contender for the job?
That’s been a question on the mind of many fans as long as the interview process has been going on for the last week, and now there is a potential answer. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Marvin Lewis had a good interview with the team and is in play for Detroit after the franchise was impressed with what he could bring to the mix as boss.
Couple of coaching updates:
-Brian Daboll slated to meet with Chargers and Jets on Sunday.
-Urban Meyer has met in person with Jags. No movement yet but Jacksonville firmly in mix.
-Lions came away impressed by Marvin Lewis in his recent interview. He’s in play there.
The Lions have been said to be eying experience with their next hire, and Lewis is the most experienced name to be talked with in the process. To that end, it’s not a surprise to see him as a potential finalist as reported. Many fans won’t like it given the struggles Lewis had winning in Cincinnati, but he is a stable presence and stability is what Detroit could crave the most right now.
Marvin Lewis Fit With Lions
Lewis may well be the most experienced name the Lions interview, which is the main argument that could be made for the team hiring him. Even such, making that move might not be the best move to keep fans happy and get the team on the right track. There’s no doubting Lewis has a penchant for defense, which has been his calling card in his career. That makes him an attractive candidate for Detroit, but his 0-7 mark in the playoffs lends to some pause for the Lions, who need to find a way to win in the playoffs. If Lewis has the right answers on how to do that, he could be an attractive candidate given his experience and ability to bring a locker room together.
Clearly, Lewis gave the Lions some satisfactory answers as it relates to how he wants to turn things around in the Motor City and his plan for doing so.
Marvin Lewis Career Biography
Though he was much-maligned for his work with the Bengals, Lewis was one of the more consistent coaches of the last decade. From 2003-2018, he led the Cincinnati Bengals. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore from 1996-2001 where he helped deliver Super Bowl XXXV and one of the most dominating defenses in NFL history. From there, he spend a season calling the defense in Washington before departing to take the head job with the Bengals.
Lewis has a 131-122-3 record as an NFL coach, but more troubling is his 0-7 mark in the postseason. Lewis would have to sell the Lions on the fact that he could get them over the hump and be the right answer for a team that hasn’t had any postseason success of their own.
Even with that in mind, Lewis might have done enough in the interview to be considered one of the final contenders for the job. Many folks might not like that, but at this point, it appears to be the truth.
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