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Final Marvin interview from C Trent Blog


Bearcat1975

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Last of Marvin -- Senior Bowl

Friday, January 30, 2009, 04:24 PM EST

The final part of this week's talk with Marvin Lewis is about the experience coaching the Senior Bowl.

Lewis' Bengals staff coached the game in 2004 and selected two players who had played in the game in the second round, cornerback Keiwan Ratliff and safety Madieu Williams.

The first thing I asked was if Lewis relished the opportunity to go down there, but before I could get it out, he said, "I don't want to be there."

Of course, he meant he'd rather be coaching his team that week in the Super Bowl. However, the Bengals weren't and in that case, he said he enjoyed coaching there

"I think it's a great opportunity. I totally love the opportunity to be around those kids," Lewis said. "I stood out there with the South team offensive line the other night for about an hour as our coaches were interviewing their players and we had a team exchange. Just being around those guys and spending time around Michael Oher and Eric Wood and some of these guys … It was great. They're great kids and it's really enjoyable to spend the time like that.

He also talked about LSU offensive lineman Herman Johnson, whose mother was also down there and played a game with Lewis all week. Johnson's mother, Karen, was trying to jinx Lewis all week, touching him and giving him the jinx. Lewis said he'd rub it off and he'd wipe Herman when he saw him to jinx him.

Lewis also talked about meeting Georgia Tech defensive tackle Vance Walker, whose parents are from Cincinnati.

"You get to know a little more about the guy," Lewis said.

Then I asked if he felt pressured to coach there because the Bengals have the smallest scouting department in the league. He brushed that aside.

"Every coaching staff goes there. I enjoy it because I get to know 100 players, 90 players, that I wouldn't know as well untl a month from now," Lewis said. "I can put a name with a face, some knee-bend with a face, some speed with a face, some athleticism with a face, that I would not know. Because now you have to sit in the stands and it's not like you were when you could be right there. I watched Jason Gilden right there. I watched Jason Gilden compete for three days. I didn't have any reservations in my mind that we wanted that guy on our team."

In the old days, all the NFL coaches were allowed on the fields during practice, now only the two staffs are permitted to be on the field during practices, the rest of the teams sit in the stands.

"When you're that up close and personal, to me it makes a difference," Lewis said. "Watching (James) Farrior and those guys when they were down there later on. You've seen these kids who go through, Jason Taylor, who is going to the Hall of Fame. You watched those guys down there and you know these guys are going to fight you tooth-and-nail all the time. It doesn't surprise you when they're successful in the pros. You get a field. Madieu and Keiwan were on the team last time, we drafted them because of their tape, but we got a great feel for them as competitors and football players during that week."

Lewis said he spent some time around the USC linebackers at the game -- Rey Maualuga, Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing.

"We've spent a lot of time around them, when they come here you spend a lot of time around them and you want to know if that's the kind of guy you want to bring into your building," Lewis said.

Lewis also said he hoped the TV coverage, including televised practices on the NFL Network could help the game.

"The television thing will hopefully bring more players to play. If I can go and my family can watch you play every day, that's pretty cool," Lewis said. "It's like the combine, the NFL Network has made the combine. More guys are running and working out because everyone's watching."

http://www.thelotd.com/ctrent/blog/2009/01...in__senior_bowl

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We come here to spend some time around those guys and when you spend time around those guys, it really pays off from spending that time around those guys. If we didn't have a chance to spend that time around those guys, then it wouldn't be time well spent. We'll get more time around those guys later.

Boring...

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We come here to spend some time around those guys and when you spend time around those guys, it really pays off from spending that time around those guys. If we didn't have a chance to spend that time around those guys, then it wouldn't be time well spent. We'll get more time around those guys later.

Boring...

Tell me about it.

I just hope he gets better results than he did last time he "spent all that time" at the Senior Bowl. ^_^

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It's just hard to sit and listen to them talk about how great of an opportunity it is to be there and then they go and have a draft like 2004 after doing so.

The article just sucked.

"Then he talked about..." "Then he talked about..." "Then he talked about..."

Boring. Then again, thinking you are going to get anything out of Marvin in an article or interview is like banging your head with a brick.

Painful, a little numbing, but mostly painful.

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Mike Brown probably made them coach the Senior Bowl so they could see so many players in one place, and save the travel money he would spend sending his coaches all over the country.

I could see him wanting to see his coaches travel on someone else's dime.

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