'Time for Heads to Roll': Stephen A Calls for Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis' Firing

Monday on ESPN2’s “First Take,” co-host Stephen A. Smith called for the Cincinnati Bengals to fire head coach Marvin Lewis after his Bengals team fell to 0-7 Saturday in the playoffs under his tutelage.

Two of Lewis’ defensive players were flagged for costly penalties that gave the Pittsburgh Steelers 30 free yards to put them in field goal range in the final seconds of the game to allow them to kick the winning field goal.

Smith said the Bengals played like a bunch of “hooligans” and they should fire Lewis and promote offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who is a candidate for other NFL jobs.

“According to reports, Marvin Lewis is going to stay in his job. I’m here to say that should not be the case. If there was ever a nail in the proverbial coffin, it was Saturday night with the Cincinnati Bengals. Marvin Lewis should be gone today. Somebody like Hue jackson should be the head coach and they should move forward.”

“I’m not questioning the competency of Marvin Lewis,” Smith explained. “I know he knows football; I know can coach. Two things are glaring to me. A, it is now 12 full seasons you have been the head coach of Cincinnati without one single playoff victory. Not one. You have been to the playoffs seven times. you are 0-7. It is the worst record for a head coach in history. That’s number two. Number three, if you can’t exercise control, what good are you?”

Smith previously lamented that Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett holds a privilege that black coaches do not, save for Marvin Lewis.

He also proposed the Rooney Rule to be integrated in college football when he grieved Mark Richt was hired to be the Miami Hurricanes head football coach instead of an African-American coach, but then said the Rooney Rule is hurting black coaches in the NFL.