NFL Coach of the Year - How can it not be Marvin Lewis?

In My Humble Opinion
1

An ESPN columnist makes the case for Bill Belichick as NFL Coach of the Year. While I don’t deny that he’s done extremely well dealing with the hand he was dealt, I have a question:

How can it be anyone BUT Marvin Lewis?

When he took the job in Cincinatti, didn’t you feel bad for him? I know I did. I was almost certain that he would be back to being a defensive coordinator within two years and that he would never get another head coaching job. Because let’s face it: the Bengals are a black hole, aren’t they?

Not anymore. Not only might they post a winning record this year for the first time in over a decade (they have to beat the sorry Browns next week), but they might win the division!

Once again I have to ask, can it really be anyone but Marvin Lewis?

2

I don’t know. Most people would’ve expected the Pats to go about .500, especially with the injuries. I’d say that it’s a very close call. I’d vote for Belichick, with Lewis a close second. I think that you should get extra points for turning out the best team in the conference with a bunch of no-names. But I predict that they’ll give to Lewis because, as you said, he is in Cincinnati. Most people probably expected them to go 1-15.

3

in a jackknifed juggernaut, Bill Parcells is born again

4

If the Bengals go to the playoffs, then maybe I could see Marvin Lewis as coach of the year. Don’t get me wrong, Lewis has been absolutely brilliant in turning around an entire franchise.

Having said that, Bill Parcells took a team with no QB, an untested RB, two washed up WRs and a slightly above average defense and turned them into a playoff caliber team. While their O has struggled lately, the D has remained tops in the NFL. If they had a QB, they would be awesome.

I don’t buy Bellichik at all. He has one of the top three RBs (arguably the best), as well as the top player in all of football (watch an entire Ravens game and see how Ray Lewis is involved in every single play). What stars does Parcells have? Dat Nguyen? Billy Cundiff?

5

If USC can miss #1 on the BCS, anything’s possible.

6

Brian BILLICK coaches the Ravens. Bill Belichick coaches the Patriots.

7

Anyone who could turn around the Cincinnati Bengals deserves Coach of the Year twice over. Three months ago they were The Team That Parity Forgot. They were a joke, a punchline, a hopeless cause, Jon Kitna was the quarterback. Belichick’s done a great job, but the Patriots, holes and all, were not a joke franchise. They still have a lot of the talent that won a Super Bowl two years ago. It’s just not the same thing.

The hell with Coach of the Year; Lewis should win the Nobel Peace Prize. I can’t believe the Bengals are actually contending.

8

Personally, I think it should come down to Parcells and Lewis and I wouldn’t get my nose out of sorts if either of them won. Both of them have won about 5 games more than I would have expected coming into the year and they don’t seem to have done it with any breakthrough performances by players (with the possible exception of Chad Johnson in Cincy). Instead, they have taken players with below average talent and coaxed them into playing well above their heads.

I don’t think Belichick should win. As RickJay points out, it’s a reasonably talented squad that has exceeded expectations, but I don’t think it was that great a longshot to predict that the Pats would have a good season. However, I would put Belichick with John Fox at Carolina right behind Parcells and Lewis.

9

Oops. That’s embarrassing. Ummm . . . Go Jets?

10

I like John Fox, too. The only reason I didn’t mention him is because he’s in his second year in Carolina, while Lewis is in his first.

And I didn’t mention Parcells because I hate the Cowboys. :wink:

11

I’m right on the fence between Lewis and Parcells. Both have done a fantastic job. If the Bengals make the playoffs, (and jee-zus I hope my Steelers do my part to knock Baltimore out on Sunday), I think he’s a lock to win it.

However, if the Bengals do not go it should go to Parcells.

12

How could you say that?! looks at Bengals’ schedule He should win the Nobel Prize for physics!:eek:

13

Parcells has done an unbelievable job with a very bad team. Marvin Lewis has done a good job with a good team. Let’s face it folks, Lewis has great offensive players in Cincy (Corey Dillon, Rudi Johnson, Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick, John Kitna). Parcells has sub-par offensive players in Dallas (Quincy Carter, Troy Hambrick, Terry Glenn, Joey Galloway, Antonio Bryant) and Parcells has managed to put his team ahead at the end of 10 games so far. That seems like more of an accomplishment to me than taking a team with a lot of talent and not making the playoffs (I’m assuming that the Bengals don’t make it, sue me).

Granted, Parcells has had a very good defense this year (yeah blainer, Dat Nguyen is a star. He’s really quite good) but I don’t think that should overshadow what he’s done to turn this team around in one year. Marvin Lewis has done a helluva job in Cincy, but I think that the job Parcells has done is nothing short of astonishing.

Those that suggest Belichick can sod off. He has a superb team in a weak division and he’s managed to beat the teams he was supposed to beat. Kudos to him, but he won the Super Bowl with a worse team 2 years ago. That team has certainly exceeded expectations, and his coaching has been great, but it hasn’t been nearly as good as either Lewis or Parcells.

14

Marvin Lewis is a superb coach who’s done a very creditable job. However, I think that, far too often, football’s Coach of the Year and baseball’s Manager of the Year are “Oops” awards.

That is, when voters (usually sportswriters, sometimes other coaches) completely misjudge the talent level of a team, when a team they picked to finish last turns out to be pretty good, they give that team’s coach/manager an award, as if to say “We couldn’t possibly have been wrong about how good the team was, so the coach must have done a brilliant job.”
Somehow, if a good team goes 12-4 or 13-3, the coach gets a bit less respect, as if voters are thinking it’s no big deal to get an immensely talented team to play to its potential.

I beg to differ. Again, Marvin Lewis is a superb coach (and it’s a travesty that it took so long for him to get a head coaching job). But I don’t like it when coaching awards go to guys who lead bad teams to respectability or mediocrity. Frankly, I think it’s pretty EASY to turn a woeful 2-14 team into a mediocre 7-9 team, or a 5-11 team into a 9-7 wild card team (after all, you get high draft picks and an easy schedule).

What’s HARD is turning a respectable 9-7 team into a championship-caliber 12-4 team. Or keeping a superb team on course when it looks, early on, as if the season is going to Hell. At the end of September, did YOU think the Eagles and Patriots were going to be as strong as they turned out to be? Didn’t it appear that both teams were about to crash and burn?

Occasionally, you get a team so phenomenally talented that even a do-nothing coach can take them to a championship (Barry Switzer comes to mind). But most of the time, a 12-4 or 13-3 record reflects excellent coaching.

That’s why, as much as I admire the job that guys like Marvin Lewis and Bill Parcells have done this year, I think the best coaching jobs were done by Bill Belichik and Andy Reid.

15

Dat Nguyen totally got shafted this year with respect to the Pro Bowl. He absolutely should be starting in front of Urlacher. But, this just underscores Parcells’ value. Prior to this season, Nguyen was an above average, but undersized LB. This season, he has reached the elite level. Is this because of his new coach? Maybe . . .

16

You can talk all you want about players and such, but turning an entire organization around is huge. The Bungals have been the armpit of the league (along with AZ) for a very long time. Just bringing a winning season to this team should give Lewis the award automatically.

You can talk all you want about winning organizations (Philly and the Pats) continuing to win in adversity, but it’s easy for them to have a winning attitude. The Bungals best season in the last 10 years was 8-8 (once in 1996.) They’ve had double digit losses in the previous 5 seasons! Their record in the last 5 seasons is 19-61! Last year they were 2-14.

Last year Philly was 13-3. They haven’t had a losing season since 1999. The Patriots won the Super Bowl just 2 years ago.

On the other hand, the Cowboys are 32-48 in the last 5 years. Plus they had three 5-11 seasons in a row the past 3 years. That being considered, Parcells has done a good job.

So IMO, Lewis is coach of the year hands down with Parcells coming in second.

17

I just wanted to mention Dave McGinnis, just so’s if he’s a Doper and does a vanity search, he’ll find his name in the “NFL Coach of the Year” thread.

It’s the only consolation he’ll get before the Cardinals dump his sorry ass, and it might make him smile while he’s filling out an application for a job at Fashion Bug.

18

The job Marvin Lewis has done is somewhat overrated, largely due to the ineptness of the previous regime. Don’t get me wrong, Lewis has done a great job, I’d put him in the top three. But he had help from low expectations, the unexpected slide to mediocrity or worse from the Steelers. It’s easy to look good when you follow disasters. Heck, I’ve built my entire career on that.

What Belicheck has accomplished thus far is outstanding, he would get my vote. The Patriots personnel is not much better than most teams (with the exception of QB). Belecheck saw Brady as a star when no one else did, it seems obvious now that he is a much better QB than Bledsoe.

They’ve won every close game this year, and against good teams. Their defense has been excellent despite no great talent, and a mediocre a best running game. Those are signs of a great coach.

Parcells has been lucky. His opponents have made some game losing mistakes (the Giants on Monday night, the Eagles onside kick at the opening kickoff). He has followed a disaster and benefits from a weak division, much like Lewis. I’d put him fourth.

I’d put Vermeil second. The Chiefs were dominant in the early season, and still a threat.

19

blainer, I totally agree about Nguyen (114 tackles to Urlacher’s 108. Close, but I’d take Nguyen). He may be small and he may not rush the passer, but he’s in on every tackle and he doesn’t miss tackles. I think a lot of this is due to the superb coaching of Mike Zimmer. I weep because Zimmer will get plucked out of the Cowboys system soon and become a head coach elsewhere. That whole defense has become great (except Mario “Pass Interference” Edwards). They’re all sure tacklers and they don’t make dumb mistakes. I apologize for the hijack, but that is a damn fine defense.

Dogman, do you honestly believe that a team like the Eagles can lose the game on the first play? I’ll give you the Giants mistake, that was a huge one with 11 seconds left and it did cost them the game, but do you seriously believe that a team like the Eagles is incapable of coming back from 7 points down? The Eagles got outplayed that day and it wasn’t because they bollocksed up the onside kick.

Meh, Vermeil…That’s a tough one. His team has lost in blowout fashion 3 times this year (the Cincy game was close on the scoreboard, but KC was never really in it) and that defense looks more and more questionable every week. Here and now I predict that the Chiefs lose their first playoff game. By at least 10.

20

Poor COach Mac. I am an Arizona fan, have been and always will be. He is a good coach and will be somewhere other than in Arizona.

Arizona has a serious lack of talent or experience this year. Remember, they released their top 3 Wrs and QB last year.
There is serious lack of talent on the Defense. Bidwell (owner) is finally opening up the purse strings and signing players to extentions. Furgeson (GM) had a mediore draft this year as his first draft. They did get lucky and drafted Boldin (wr) Plus had Sullivan(off Coordinator) there to teach him. I regret to see Coach Mac go, but I do hope Sullivan stays since he is IMHO the best WR coach in the league.