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The change Bengals coach Marvin Lewis forecast last week began last night, when defensive coaches Chuck Bresnahan and Ricky Hunley were fired. Bresnahan just finished his third season as defensive coordinator, and the Bengals ranked in the bottom six in the NFL in yards allowed each season. They ranked 27th in yards allowed and 24th in points allowed in 2007. Hunley was the linebackers coach the past five seasons. "After meeting with all our coaches, I determined that it was necessary to make these changes," Lewis said in a statement. "Both Chuck and Ricky worked extremely hard this past year, and I wish them and their families the best as they move on in their careers." Lewis moves into his sixth season as coach with his third defensive coordinator. The Bengals have finished in the bottom half of the league in yards and points allowed each season. In four of Lewis' five seasons, they finished 27th or worse in yards allowed.
It has been a decades-long trend in Cincinnati, and Lewis -- who came to town with a history of success as a defensive coach -- has been unable to reverse it. He and his staff have been hurt by losses on and off the field, particularly at linebacker: David Pollack, the team's first-round pick in 2005, suffered a career-threatening neck injury early in the 2006 season, and Odell Thurman was suspended for the 2006 and '07 seasons after a promising rookie year in 2005. The defense played significantly better during the second half of the 2007 season, but the damage had been done and the Bengals finished 7-9 despite a favorable schedule. In an interview with The Dispatch last week, Lewis said, "It's time for us to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch." He declined to discuss specific changes during subsequent news conferences, saying only that the coaching staff must "find a better way, a new way of looking at things." In a smaller move to improve their depth, the Bengals signed safety Kyries Hebert, a four-year veteran of the Canadian Football League
Columbus Dispatch http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/bengals/stories/2008/01/03/bengals0103.ART_ART_01-03-08_C5_998UU68.html?sid=101 |
