Bengals president Mike Brown expects the AFC Central to consist of the Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens after a realignment vote at the NFL owners meetings later this month.

        The Houston Texans will begin play as the league's 32nd team in 2002, and the NFL will form four, four-team divisions in each of the two conferences.

        Owners meet May 22-23 in Chicago, and commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the meetings have been extended by a day to accommodate the realignment vote. Tagliabue said Thursday he expects the vote to be complete by June 1.

        Tagliabue holds four proxy votes, three surrendered by the Rams, Oilers (now Titans) and Browns (now Ravens) when they moved, plus the expansion Texans.

        Any plan would require 21 of the 32 votes to pass.

        Brown said he wouldn't have minded seeing the Indianapolis Colts put in the same division as the Bengals, because Indianapolis is just 90 miles away. But Steelers president Dan Rooney wants Baltimore to stay in the division because of the rivalry the Steelers had with the former Baltimore Colts.

        COACHING CLINIC: More than 100 Tristate high school football coaches attended a coaching program Friday at Paul Brown Stadium.

        The two-day event, which ends today, is sponsored by the NFL, the National Football Foundation and the NFL Players Association.

        Bengals defensive coordinator Mark Duffner was Friday night's keynote speaker. The program is designed to ensure that coaches not only train players properly but also emphasize the game's social benefits and character-building skills.

Dillon signs five-year deal Brown has guess on realignment

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