What's the Course of action?

[combatbengal]

I for one hate the way this team has performed. I'm in disbelief that we are 2-5 with the talent that we have. We’ve heard and seen nothing but negativity towards the Bengals this season. Subjects such as: Fire Coach Lewis!, Fire the DC, Hire a GM, Trade Chad Johnson! Trade Justin Smith, etc.

Let’s say they fire Coach Lewis. Who is going to replace him? I wonder if John Cooper would be a good fit? Coach Cooper has 111 victories in 13 seasons and is ranked the 2nd winningest coach in OSU history. He coached nine team to conference championships and has won the Rose bowl on more then one occasion.

If we fire the DC, who would replace him? Are there any defensive masterminds out there. Would we demote Coach Lewis and have him focus on the Defense?

Hire a GM. Who would we hire? Someone who has a pair and knows football. Who’s available? Anthony Munoz?

Trade Chad for who? Chad requires double coverage every week! What other WR can we bring in that could do that?

What is the course of action to turn this team around?

[WhoDey93285]

If Marvin can't right the ship, which I don't think he will...

See signature. That's the man I want.

I'd also love to see Mike Singletary. I think he'd be a great head coach. And bring in Jim Mora as a DC if he's available.

I'm not a fan of the John Cooper idea. I wouldn't trade Chad.

[711chad]

i dont think marvin would accept a demotion....defenitly dont trade chad

[GregCook]

[Jet23]

I will cut Marvin some slack, because he has never been a HC before. I think he is trying to do too much. He's not a good game coach, but that is an area that he can improve upon. The guy just looks old and beat down anymore. I feel sorry for the guy. He will never speak out against Mike Brown, but he needs help. He needs a football guy (like and Ozzie Newsome) to be another set of eyes for him. Mike Brown is a money guy, he is not a football guy. I'm pretty sure he knows this, but since he is a money guy, he doesn't want a football guy to come in and make him look bad by pointing out all the deficiencies.

Somebody help me out here. When they were interviewing candidates, wasn't Tom Coughlin Mike Brown's first choice. Didn't it come out that Katie actually championed Marvin? I also remember hearing that Coughlin had detailed ideas, which included pumping up the scouting dept. That doesn't really jive with him supporting Coughlin however. Was Couglin's acceptance of the job contingent on upgrading the scouting dept? I get the feeling that Marvin sold Mike on the idea that he and his staff could do it all. I think he is discovering otherwise. That doesn't mean he can not do the job. HE JUST NEEDS HELP!

IMO no head coach, short of possibly Bill Walsh, can succeed on a consistent basis in this environment. It is just too much for one person to do.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Mike Brown is a money guy, he is not a football guy.

A pretty bad thing to say about the son of NFL legend Paul Brown, don't you think? It's almost incomprehensible how good Paul Brown was at the game, and how utterly pathetic his son Mikie has been since he's taken over the team. By far the WORST owner in the league bar none.

[Bengals1]

Somebody help me out here. When they were interviewing candidates, wasn't Tom Coughlin Mike Brown's first choice. Didn't it come out that Katie actually championed Marvin? I also remember hearing that Coughlin had detailed ideas, which included pumping up the scouting dept. That doesn't really jive with him supporting Coughlin however. Was Couglin's acceptance of the job contingent on upgrading the scouting dept? I get the feeling that Marvin sold Mike on the idea that he and his staff could do it all. I think he is discovering otherwise. That doesn't mean he can not do the job. HE JUST NEEDS HELP!

Yes, according to accounts in the Cincy press SoP wanted Coughlin and Katie and someone else high up in the franchise stood fast for Lewis. Both coaches reportedly told SoP that the scouting department had to be upgraded as well as the facilities (Weight room, training center, locker room etc...)All these things were done btw, so it wouldn't have necessarily saved SoP any money to hire Coughlin over Lewis.

The bottom line is that hiring a few more scouts and improving the facilities haven't really translated into any more wins. The kitties had one good season (2005) and then sunk back down into obscurity faster than a democratic presidential candidate after an election. The problem is they had one good season here and there before they added any scouts and before they "upgraded" the place.

Winning comes with the right personnel both on the field and on the sidelines. Unless and until SoP cracks open his piggy bank and spends some money on some better players and coaches we're looking at another decade or more of continued irrelevancy.

[ArmyBengal]

What is the course of action to turn this team around ??

Well, not suffer so many injuries to start, but then again, injuries happen so what can you do ?? Claim what you want to about injuries not impacting the team, but they do and for this season, they have been huge. Pollack not being here (While he only had one season) hurt us. He didn't have even one whole season to play and would have developed further if not injured. Hard to lose a first rounder on defense.

Drafting stupid people... Chris Henry (While I think he's a great WR) is an idiot and has cost this offense bigtime this season. Odell Thurman with his abuse issues have cost this defense in a big way as well. His rookie season was all we could have hoped for from a rookie and if given the chance, would have only gotten better.

Besides that, you can look at the coaches as well. Something that strikes me as odd is that you can have someone like Marvin, whos team is playing poorly and when his defense blows goat nuts, Marvin gets blamed. When you have a coach like Tomlin, whos team is playing very well and his defense is stout, LeBeau is a defensive genius. I think Bresnahan is a f*cking joke and I'm not sure who you get to replace him, but can it be any worse ?? Could someone please show the players how to tackle ??

It's been said before and it bears being said again, "Winning cures all" and if this team was 5-2 right now instead of 2-5, much of this type of conversation would not be taking place. Looking back at the games, we would VERY easily be at least 4-3 right now. Anyway, I'm not sure what exactly has to be done, as I'm not part of the organization. I'm an outsider looking in and am willing to give time considering what I DO KNOW is going on. If you want to speculate, feel free, but then again that would probably mean, firing everyone from Chad to Marvin, as well as everyone inbetween...

WHODEY !!!

[HairOnFire]

Sorry, by all acounts Mike Brown did NOT get along with Tom Coughlin. Coughlin wanted to put in place many of the same programs Lewis has, wanted to beef up scouting, and here's the rub....wanted to completely blow up the Bengals roster and start over from the ground up. By comparison, Lewis argued that their were enough assets in place to challenge for a playoff berth immediately and furthermore argued that winning immediately was critical to any attempt to turn around the culture of losing.