Sources: Lewis could pursue Pitt opening
Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis may not wait to hear if owner Mike Brown wants to bring him back. Instead, a source close to Lewis said the 2009 NFL Coach of the Year may pursue the open job at the University of Pittsburgh after spending the past eight years with the Bengals. NFL Network reported earlier in the day that the university, which fired head coach Michael Haywood on Saturday, was interested in Lewis.
"Marvin is from that area and I think he's very interested," the source said of the Pennsylvania native. A team source indicated that members of the coaching staff believe Lewis will not return, even if asked to come back.
The Pitt job became available again a little more than two weeks following the resignation of Dave Wannstedt. Haywood was fired one day after being arrested on a felony domestic abuse charge in Indiana.
As for Lewis, he has become increasingly disenchanted with the way the Bengals have been run by Brown. Among his frustrations are that the Bengals have a smaller scouting staff and require the coaching staff to do much of the scouting of college players in the offseason.
Lewis won coach of the year honors after leading the Bengals to a 10-6 mark last season, the second winning season during his tenure. However, the Bengals, who had only two winning seasons in the 16 years before Lewis took over and have made the playoffs in back-to-back years only once in the team's 43-year history, regressed to 4-12 this year.
