Can You Make Change? Pretty Please…

Well, Bengals owner Mike Brown descended from his office and anointed Marvin Lewis as head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2011. My reaction is probably best described as mild disappointment. I think Marvin is a good motivator and and a solid evaluator of talent, but I believe he falls short in terms of discipline and game management. However, if the Bengals were to search for a replacement, things could have certainly gotten worse. So I’m hoping a new offensive coordinator could perhaps help him in those areas.

Let’s face it. What Bengals fans really want is a new offensive coordinator. Even as the Bengals chewed up yards in their final game against Baltimore, they still only managed seven points. Sure, turnovers and special teams failures probably cost them another 10 or so, but I still saw several failed third and short conversions and little imagination overall. Cincinnati’s best hope for significant – and warranted – change at this point is a new offensive coordinator. Let’s hope we get it.

Other than that, little else was revealed at today’s news conference. Terms of the contract extension were not disclosed. Because I am a glutton for punishment, I read the entire transcript and pulled out what I believe to be the most interesting parts.

"Mike Brown will still have the final say on personnel matters. Let’s hope he doesn’t use it to undercut Lewis as he has done in the past.On if Lewis now has more control over personnel decisions:LEWIS: “I don’t know where that comes from, because I don’t know if I’ve sat down here and ever said that (that he less than unsatisfied with control over personnel). People keep putting that out there. I have a lot of input in our personnel. It’s Mike’s ultimate say-so. He’s the owner, he’s the general manager, and it’s my job when we disagree to show him why this is the way I think. As he will tell you, most times he sides with me. It’s my job to educate him on why it’s the way I see it. I understand that. I actually relish that opportunity. As I’ve said many times, it’s one-stop shopping. There’s no middleman I have to go through. He and I talk and discuss each and every morning or afternoon or whenever it occurs, and that’s the way it is.”Brown’s answer below seems to suggest the departure of T.Ocho. Why would he bury Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson on the depth chart if he feels so highly about them?On when player personnel decisions will be made:MIKE BROWN: “They will be made. The first thing was getting the arrangement with Marvin put to bed, and it is. The next thing is dealing with the coaches, and then we’ll get into the personnel decisions that have to be made. We’ll be a little different team. We were a little different at the end this year, and we have some good young guys, guys that showed very well. Our two defensive ends (Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson) looked to be real keepers in this league, and so do our two young wideouts (Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson). Suddenly, we were getting some young people that were showing up. We were moving the ball and sacking the quarterback. We were doing some good things. It’s overshadowed because of the record, but we see it and we know it. We know what it means for the future.”Finally, the all-important indoor facility. It seems like it will happen, if a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, even though Brown is reluctant to spend the money on it. On where the team stands on building an indoor practice facility:BROWN: “Marvin has a desire to have a practice facility. I have a desire, but probably not as keen. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a desire to do it. The timing is important. Right now, we’re faced with major issues in the National Football League, and those are at the front of our agenda. When we get through that, then we’ll have time to consider this issue. It’s one of the important issues that we have in mind. I would make the comment that some of this is perception. We worked in the cold weather. We played in the cold weather. It didn’t seem to hurt us any to practice in the cold weather. We played pretty well in it. But I do know that it’s the way it’s trending. It’s the fact that we have been left behind what others are doing. Whether that makes them better than us because they have an indoor practice facility is a question, but it’s coming.”"