The Cincinnati Bengals need more than a new head coach. They need an honest evaluation by the most important man on the team - owner Mike Brown. It's time for Mr. Brown to admit that a fresh approach is needed in the front office as well as the locker room and that means replacing himself as general manager.

Head Coach Dick LeBeau, fired by Mr. Brown on Monday morning was a nice guy who finished last. With a 2-14 record, the worst in franchise history, there was no question that he had to go. No one could have taken this team seriously had he been kept on after such a miserable showing?

But firing the coach is not enough. Dick LeBeau is only responsible for the past three years. Before that it was Bruce Coslet and before that it was Dave Shula. The man responsible for these turnovers is Mike Brown and he should no longer excuse his own culpability in the team's misfortunes.

Unfortunately for the franchise and the fans, Mr. Brown doesn't see it that way. On Monday he said he would not bring in a GM and that he saw no need to fundamentally change the way the Bengals operate their scouting department. A general manager would require Mr. Brown to relinquish personal control of the team's day-to-day operations. A full-time scouting department on a par with those employed by other NFL teams would cost him money that he appears unwilling to spend.

Mike Brown made a pact with this community back in 1996. He said that if the voters of Hamilton County raised the sales tax and built the team a new stadium, he would keep the Bengals in Cincinnati and field a competitive team. Whether or not the team's abysmal performance constitutes a legal breach of that agreement, as some in county government now argue, there is no question that Mr. Brown has let the fans down. He owes this town a better performance. If he employed a general manager and that person turned in the kind of results Mr. Brown has for the past decade, he would fire him.

Mike Brown will forever live in the shadow of his father, Paul Brown. Paul Brown was a legendary coach and a legendary innovator. He was one of the first to hire a year-round staff, to develop playbooks, study game films and have meticulous scouting reports prepared. When something didn't work, he didn't hesitate to try something new. It's time for Mike Brown to do the same.

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