Sunday, December 05, 1999
Next coach? Let the guessing begin
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If the Bengals fire Bruce Coslet after the season, any short list would have to include a coach from the Brown-Walsh-Wyche-Coslet school because Mike Brown thinks the system works and because the Bengals have only hired offensive guys as head coaches.
Marty Mornhinweg, on the sidelines today as San Francisco's third-year offensive coordinator, has the pedigree. With quarterback Steve Young playing last year, the Niners rolled up the second highest yards in NFL history. He played for another Walsh disciple in high school, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren, and worked for him in Green Bay.
Another name is Bears offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, in his first season after being the head coach at Louisiana Tech for three years. Crowton went 21-13 at Tech while racking up 33 points per game and is drawing raves this season with a Chicago offense ranked third in NFL passing with little talent.
Mornhinweg is 37 and Crowton 42, just about the right age to be enthusiastic about coming to Cincinnati. Gary Moeller, the former Bengal assistant and Michigan head coach now the Lions linebackers coach, should be on the list. He's got a great presence with players, but he's a defensive coach.
You can't leave Sam Wyche off the list, but he won't say much since Coslet is a good friend. He did say last week, “I like what I'm doing (announcing for CBS) so much that I'm thinking of asking CBS to give me my salary in unmarked bills.” Translation: He'd talk about it.
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