Detroit Lions: 5 midseason coaching replacements for Matt Patricia

Marvin Lewis

There are a flurry of former NFL head-coaching candidates to consider here. Names like Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, and Tony Dungy, In the end, I’m not sure any would be willing to clean up the mess left in Patricia’s wake.

But one name to consider is Marvin Lewis. He coached the Cincinnati Bengals for 16 years. Lewis took the Bengals to the playoffs seven times, never winning a single postseason game. He posted a regular-season record of 131-122 (.518) as the head coach in Cincinnati.

The soon-to-be 62-year old spent last season out of the NFL but is interested in returning. Lewis did interview for the head coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys prior to Mike McCarthy landing the gig in January.

The Lions are unlikely to find a more experienced head coach than Lewis midseason. And he has several connections with some current Lions including running backs coach Kyle Caskey, special teams coach Brayden Coombs, and wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr.

Lewis was hired as co-defensive coordinator at Arizona State in February. So it’s unclear if he’d be willing to leave for a chance to return to the NFL on a potentially limited basis. Especially with the PAC-12 possibly kicking off next month.