Marvin Lewis on Monday left the top job at the Cincinnati Bengals, one of six head coaches ditched within 12 hours of the end of the NFL regular season as teams acted swiftly in the wake of disappointing campaigns.
Lewis had been in the job for 16 years, the longest tenure in franchise history. Only Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots (19 years) has been at the helm of an NFL team for longer.
The Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals also announced their head coaches were leaving on Monday, while the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wielded the axe on Sunday night.
The Bengals described the departure of Lewis as a mutual decision and the coach acknowledged that he had fallen short in his quest to win a Super Bowl.
“I didn’t deliver what your No. 1 goal is, and that’s to be world champions,” Lewis told reporters. “We did not get that done. [President] Mike [Brown] and I both decided it’s time.”
Lewis was 131-122-3 with the Bengals, who made the playoffs in five straight seasons from 2011 to 2015, but the team never won a playoff game under Lewis and regressed the past three seasons, failing to qualify for the post-season.
Cincinnati went 6-10 this year, their third straight losing season.
Miami dismissed Adam Gase after the Dolphins went 7-9. Gase was 23-25 in three seasons in Florida.
Miami chairman Stephen Ross said it was time for the franchise to ditch a philosophy that was not working.
Denver fired Vance Joseph after a 6-10 season.
The Broncos won the Super Bowl three years ago, but have struggled in the wake of the retirement of legendary quarterback Peyton Manning.
Denver general manager John Elway did not mince his words in announcing the departure of Joseph.
“Ultimately, it was not good enough. We didn’t win enough games. We didn’t get it done,” Elway said.
While Joseph had two seasons in Denver, Steve Wilks lasted only one with the Cardinals, who finished the season 3-13, the worst record in the league.
The Jets and Buccaneers did not even wait until what has become known as “Black Monday” to announce they were going in a new direction, dispensing with Todd Bowles and Dirk Koetter.
Bowles was 23-40 in four seasons with the Jets, including a 4-12 record this season.
Koetter had three seasons with the Bucs, who went 5-11 this year.
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