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MIDDLETOWN — Marvin Lewis, head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, said driving around Middletown on Wednesday, Feb. 10 — and seeing AK Steel’s Middletown Works — reminded him of growing up in a small town near Pittsburgh.
There, in a similar steel mill, his father supported his family by working for more than 30 years.
How about you, coach?
“I worked there for nine weeks,” he said, “and that was long enough. I knew all about hard work.”
On those drives home from the plant with his father, Lewis said he only stayed awake on paydays.
Now Lewis is more worried about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He guided the Bengals to a 10-6 regular-season record in 2009 — including a 6-0 record in the AFC North Division — and their first playoff appearance since 2005, earning him NFL Coach of the Year honors.
Lewis has compiled a 56-55-1 record with the Bengals since 2003. During that time, he said, there have been 54 head coaching changes.
“That’s the business I am in,” he said.
On Wednesday, Lewis stood in front of a much smaller crowd as the guest speaker at Miami University Middletown’s Dave Finkelman Auditorium as part of the university’s celebration of Black History Month.
The crowd, nearly lost in the large auditorium, included about 150 people, several wearing Bengals jerseys and sweatshirts.
As one of the six black head coaches out of the 32 teams in the NFL, Lewis said he prepares every day to pay back those pioneer minority coaches who paved the way for him and others, and those who will follow him.
“I do my job to the best of my ability to give more opportunity to others,” he said. “I want to pay them a degree of respect.”
He mentioned former Colts coach Tony Dungy as one of his mentors.
In 2003, Lewis established the Marvin Lewis Community Fund to raise money for multiple sclerosis, which his brother-in-law has, and to “help young people,” he said.
“Don’t let somebody set limits on you,” he stressed to the students.
He also took questions from the audience:
• He was asked about his two favorite players to coach. Surprisingly, neither was a Bengal. Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens and Rod Woodson from the Steelers. He called Lewis “still a leader” and Woodson the “smartest and most athletic” player he ever coached.
• When a young boy asked who the Bengals were drafting with their 21st overall pick, Lewis laughed, then said the team is looking at “a lot of different players,” the one who “fits us the best.” He asked the boy to send him a list of the top 20 picks, in order, then he’d let him know the Bengals’ selection.
• When asked how the Bengals handled this season’s two tragedies: the passing of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife and the death of troubled wide receiver Chris Henry, Lewis said he leaned on “faith, family and football.”
“There are no special words,” he said. “We can’t say magic.”
• A woman asked Lewis if her 11-year-old nephew should play football. Lewis said his son, at that age, played soccer.
• Are the Bengals interested in signing wide receiver Terrell Owens, as Chad Ochocinco has suggested? Lewis said Chad was campaigning for Owens, whom Lewis called “a hell of a player.”
• One woman asked Lewis what he was thinking when he danced with his wife at their wedding, and, when drafting or signing a player, does he consider passion, skill or character to be the most valuable asset?
He ranked them in this order: character, skill and passion. “We can’t judge passion,” he said.
And on his wedding night?
“What time could we leave.”
• When asked about conflict resolution among players, Lewis said the team is judged only by the number of games it wins. This season, he said, no wide receiver complained about the passing game, no running back complained about the ground game.
“That means we had the right people on the bus,” he said. “Greed is good, but it can’t get in the way of winning games.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
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