People who have spoken to Marvin Lewis say that, as much as he'd like to stay in Cincinnati as the Bengals' coach, he believes it's time to move on from his current job -- unless the team makes changes they've been unwilling to make for years.
Lewis, whose contract expires after this season, will meet early this week with Bengals president Mike Brown, according to league sources.
Lewis would like the Bengals to upgrade their training facilities and their player personnel department, and he is so adamant on these issues that it is the reason he declined to sign the contract extension offered him before this season.
If Cincinnati is unwilling to budge on these issues -- and there is no indication they are -- then Lewis will not return to Cincinnati next season and he will become the latest desirable coach on the open market.
The Bengals have had only two winning records and lost their two playoff games during his eight seasons. He has a 60-67-1 record following Sunday's 13-7 loss at Baltimore (11-5).
The Bengals had gone 15 years between winning records when he led them to the division title in 2005. They won it again last year, and splurged on the payroll to try to win their first back-to-back division titles in franchise history.
Instead, Lewis has presided over perhaps the franchise's biggest disappointment. The Bengals tied the club record by losing 10 in a row, and receiver Terrell Owens blamed the coaching staff for the offense's troubles. Cincinnati failed to sell out the last four home games.
Should Lewis leave, the Bengals have an ideal in-house candidate in defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.
Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Marvin wants changes
Re: Marvin wants changes
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said after Sunday's 13-7 loss in the regular season finale that he doesn't know anything about his future.
"All I know is that after today I'm officially unemployed," he said. "I don't know what's ahead for me. What I do know is that we've got guys that fought their tails off. That's a group in that locker room that hasn't figured out (how to win). They've got the pathway. They know what it takes."
Lewis is set to meet with Bengals president Mike Brown on Monday. It is believed that Brown is thinking of asking Lewis back, but it's also believed that Lewis would like some changes. He wouldn't be specific, but he said an indoor facility is not an obstacle. He said that Brown realizes with the advent of an 18-game schedule there will have to be a new facility.
But that is as specific as Lewis got in his postgame press conference. On Friday, Lewis said he was at a "starting over point." He reiterated that on Sunday.
"In my coaching career, I'm at a different point than I was eight years ago," Lewis said. "This team is in a good place, and that's a good thing."
MORE LEWIS: Asked after the game if he would like to come back to Cincinnati, Lewis said "yes."
"We sit down, we talk and we all agree," he said of what it would take for him to come back.
Asked it would take money or facilities, he said, "As my boss says, I've probably said too much."
When asked for his favorite moment in Cincinnati he cited the the victory over the 9-0 Chiefs on November 16, 2003.
"They were undefeated; we were about defeated," Lewis said. "It was a turning point of the belief if we play physical football and make plays to win games, and not worry about all the other things going on around you."
Lewis's players said they noticed no difference in him after the game.
"Coach Lewis is always emotional. He was emotional at halftime," right guard Bobbie Williams said.
Linebacker Brandon Johnson, one of 13 players scheduled to be free agents, is uncertain.
"I don't know. It's not my business. I'm a hired hand," Johnson said.
Quarterback Carson Palmer, Lewis's first draft choice in 2003, is also playing it by ear.
"I've seen a lot of crazy things in this league," Palmer said. "He's a great coach. I don't know what's going to happen."
SLANTS AND SCREENS
"All I know is that after today I'm officially unemployed," he said. "I don't know what's ahead for me. What I do know is that we've got guys that fought their tails off. That's a group in that locker room that hasn't figured out (how to win). They've got the pathway. They know what it takes."
Lewis is set to meet with Bengals president Mike Brown on Monday. It is believed that Brown is thinking of asking Lewis back, but it's also believed that Lewis would like some changes. He wouldn't be specific, but he said an indoor facility is not an obstacle. He said that Brown realizes with the advent of an 18-game schedule there will have to be a new facility.
But that is as specific as Lewis got in his postgame press conference. On Friday, Lewis said he was at a "starting over point." He reiterated that on Sunday.
"In my coaching career, I'm at a different point than I was eight years ago," Lewis said. "This team is in a good place, and that's a good thing."
MORE LEWIS: Asked after the game if he would like to come back to Cincinnati, Lewis said "yes."
"We sit down, we talk and we all agree," he said of what it would take for him to come back.
Asked it would take money or facilities, he said, "As my boss says, I've probably said too much."
When asked for his favorite moment in Cincinnati he cited the the victory over the 9-0 Chiefs on November 16, 2003.
"They were undefeated; we were about defeated," Lewis said. "It was a turning point of the belief if we play physical football and make plays to win games, and not worry about all the other things going on around you."
Lewis's players said they noticed no difference in him after the game.
"Coach Lewis is always emotional. He was emotional at halftime," right guard Bobbie Williams said.
Linebacker Brandon Johnson, one of 13 players scheduled to be free agents, is uncertain.
"I don't know. It's not my business. I'm a hired hand," Johnson said.
Quarterback Carson Palmer, Lewis's first draft choice in 2003, is also playing it by ear.
"I've seen a lot of crazy things in this league," Palmer said. "He's a great coach. I don't know what's going to happen."
SLANTS AND SCREENS
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Re: Marvin wants changes
Marvin should just move on. as long as Mike Brown is running the team (I use that frase loosly), the Bungels will never be the team they could or should be.