Arizona State Hires Former Bengals HC Marvin Lewis As Special Advisor

On Tuesday, Arizona State announced that former Bengals HC Marvin Lewis has been hired as special advisor to HC Herm Edwards.

“Marvin Lewis is one of the most respected minds in our game,” said Edwards. “Whether as the winningest coach in the franchise history of the Cincinnati Bengals, or the architect of one the greatest defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, Marvin has succeeded everywhere he has been and he has done it the right way. His passion for teaching will be an incredible benefit not only for our coaches, but also for the young men we are responsible for as students and athletes.”

“I’ve known Herman for almost 30 years and the opportunity to come and assist him and his coaches win football games is very exciting and appealing,” said Lewis “Arizona State and Tempe have always been special to me. When I was a young coach I came to visit (ASU defensive coaches) Willie Shaw and Bob Padilla back in 1983. Dirk Koetter, who is one of my closest friends, was the head coach there, Ray Anderson, who I’ve known for more than 20 years, used to represent me, and my daughter (Whitney) went to school there.

“I envision just being another set of eyes, another set of ears, and doing anything I can to help the coaches. I was really impressed with the staff and what they accomplished after they hit the ground running last season. ASU is a great university and is known for having an outstanding athletic program that has always been able to attract top athletes from around the country and I look forward to doing all I can to help the program.”

Lewis, 60, was hired as the Bengals’ head coach back in 2003 and has spent 14 seasons with the team. The Bengals announced last year that they re-signed Lewis to a new two-year extension.

Unfortunately, Lewis was fired after the 2018 season. 

In total, the Bengals are 131-122-3 (51.8 percent) under Lewis, which includes seven trips to the postseason but no playoff wins.