NFL FIRINGS roundup

CINCINNATI BENGALS

Bengals finally move on from Marvin Lewis

CINCINNATI

The surprise isn’t that Marvin Lewis is gone, but that it took so long for the Bengals to make the change.

Lewis arrived in 2003 and elevated one of the NFL’s most forlorn franchises to respectability, but couldn’t take it to the next level. He was fired Monday after his 16th season of failing to win a playoff game.

Now, owner Mike Brown will decide whether to bring in an outsider who will shake things up, or stay the course with someone who is familiar.

Lewis’ departure ends the second-longest active coaching tenure in the NFL. New England’s Bill Belichick is wrapping up his 19th season with another postseason berth. He’s won five Super Bowls and made eight appearances in the title game, both NFL records.

By contrast, Lewis leaves Cincinnati with a postseason record of 0-7, the worst in NFL history. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, tied with Washington for the fifth-longest futility in league history.

A third straight losing season punctuated by plummeting attendance prompted the change-resistant owner to cut ties with Lewis.

DENVER BRONCOS

Joseph out after two seasons

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.

John Elway is looking for his fourth head coach in six seasons after firing Vance Joseph for presiding over the Denver Broncos’ worst two-year stretch since the late 1960s.

Elway acknowledged being part of the problem in the Broncos’ 20-28 record since their Super Bowl 50 parade, including 11-21 under Joseph.

It was Joseph who took the fall, however, fired with two years and $6 million left on his contract.

Elway almost fired Joseph last year after a 5-11 debacle but gave him a second chance. He got no similar reprieve after going 6-10.

The Broncos immediately sought permission to interview Steelers offensive line coach and former Titans head coach Mike Munchak, Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores, among others.

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Gase out, Tannenbaum demoted as part of shake-up

MIAMI

The Miami Dolphins’ coaching carousel is spinning again.

Adam Gase was fired Monday as part of the latest organizational shake-up after the Dolphins finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years. Owner Stephen Ross ordered a roster overhaul and acknowledged it may take several seasons to build a winner.

Ross demoted executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum. General manager Chris Grier, who has been with the team in various capacities for 19 seasons, was given more authority and will oversee football operations while reporting directly to Ross.

The team said it will immediately conduct a search for Gase’s successor, who will report to Grier under the team’s new, more streamlined leadership structure.

The next coach will be the Dolphins’ 10th since 2004, including three interim coaches. This time, Ross said, will be different.

Ross, 78, said he’s willing to be patient because the Dolphins’ win-now philosophy hasn’t worked, and he wants a longer-term view regarding player personnel decisions.

In the past the Dolphins counted on free agents to get over the hump and instead became stuck on a treadmill of mediocrity. They’ve finished with six to eight wins in nine of the past 10 seasons, and haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.

Gase went 23-26 with Miami, including a playoff game in 2016.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Wilks is one and done

TEMPE, Ariz.

The Arizona Cardinals have fired Steve Wilks after just one season as head coach.

Wilks’ firing Monday followed a 3-13 season, the franchise’s worst record in 18 years and the worst in the NFL this season.

He is the first Cardinals coach to be fired after one season since Joe Kuharich in 1952.

At a news conference, team President Michael Bidwill called Wilks “one of the hardest-working coaches I’ve ever been around” and a man respected throughout the organization.

But Bidwill cited the number of losses and the lack of competitiveness in many of those games as a reason for the firing, saying the team went backward on offense and defense.

“It’s a results-oriented business,” Bidwill said, “and if you don’t win everybody knows what happens.”

He said he couldn’t get behind a plan Wilks presented for the 2019 season.

Bidwill contended the now-vacant Cardinals job would be the most attractive of the eight NFL openings, noting the team’s core of talented players, a young franchise quarterback, the top overall draft pick and subsequent picks and plenty of salary cap space.

Associated Press