Hue Jackson Could Take Marvin Lewis’ Bengals Head Coach Job [Rumor]

TheSportster

By Alex Hoegler

Published Nov 25, 2018

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Cincinnati Bengals might have Hue Jackson take over as head coach next year.

Nov 26, 2017; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis (right) hugs Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson (left) after the Bengals defeated the Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals may have extended Marvin Lewis in the new year, but they could still be looking at a coaching change in the offseason.

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, there's "a growing sense around the league that" assistant coach Hue Jackson could replace Lewis as head coach should the latter " retire or transition to an upper-management position."

Jackson was Cincinnati's wide receivers coach from 2004-06. After leaving to become the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator, Jackson returned to Cincinnati in 2012 and stayed on for three years. He was promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, before leaving to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

He was fired by the Browns after a 2-5-1 start to the season, but the Bengals brought him back in an unknown coaching role two weeks ago.

La Canfora noted that owner Mike Brown prefers to hire coaches from within, and Jackson "is very well thought of" in Cincinnati. Because of that, Jackson will be a primary candidate if Lewis does step away as head coach.

The Bengals sat at 5-5 on the season entering Sunday's Week 12 home contest with the Browns. After a promising 5-1 start, a historically awful defense has led to a major unraveling. The Bengals have lost four of their last five and will need a lot to go their way just to make the postseason.

Cincinnati made the playoffs in both 2014 and '15, as quarterback Andy Dalton enjoyed two strong seasons with Jackson as the offensive coordinator. Lewis has been head coach since 2003, but he's never won a postseason game, which is why his extension was heavily criticized by fans and pundits in January.

What This Means

Though Jackson's tenure as Cleveland's head coach was downright terrible, he might succeed better on a Bengals team with plenty of veteran talent - albeit one in need of a coaching change.

If ownership only wants to hire from within the organization, then Jackson is undoubtedly the easy choice to replace Lewis.

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