By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marvin Lewis, the new head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, jokes with a member of the media. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

Marvin Lewis' first day on the job with the Bengals on Friday was unlike the first day for a new coach in any other NFL city.

His 11 a.m. news conference was equal parts coronation and ordination. He's Moses with whistle and clipboard coming to Cincinnati to diagram the Bengals and their fans out of bondage.

Make no mistake. These are Marvin Lewis' Bengals now. He wears the crown. He is the 21st-century face, voice and image of the Bengals organization, a 30-year time-warp makeover accomplished with one bold hiring move on Tuesday.

Mr. Lewis had been on the job for not even four hours on Friday and was handed the key to the city.

Most NFL coaches have to win a Super Bowl to receive such recognition. Only in victory-starved Cincinnati, just the hope of better days that Mr. Lewis promises was enough to bring out the mayor.

"It opens the vault, but the vault is empty," Mayor Charlie Luken said in reference to the team's 12 consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance.

Lewis talks with the media during a press conference Friday morning. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

Mr. Lewis flashed a bright smile, shook the mayor's hand and said, "I hope that key works a year from now."

Asked later what a successful first season would be, Mr. Lewis said, "That you are not sitting out there and somebody else is standing here."

Mr. Lewis' self-deprecating words were a thin veil that could not mask his considerable self-confidence.

Dressed in a gray business suit and tie, Mr. Lewis looked and spoke more like a corporate CEO than a football coach. There were no khakis, athletic shoes and black Bengals sweatshirt - at least not on Friday. On his right hand he wore a gold-and-diamond encrusted Super Bowl ring, and Mr. Lewis spoke the words no Bengals coach can be remembered uttering.

"We don't do this business without wanting to play on this final Sunday," he said of the Super Bowl, which he won as defensive coordinator of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. "When you don't win that last game, it's like you fall off that cliff. Let's not fall off that cliff. Why do we do this? To win that championship."

Then he raised the bar even higher.

"If we're not in the Super Bowl next year, I hope none of our guys want to go there and take part in any of the activities," he said. "You have to earn your way there. That's what I told those guys in Baltimore all the time. You don't need to go and be a part of it. Sit at home and get upset where you have to shut your TV off. We can earn our way there. It's not out of reach."

Dozens of Bengals employees - including a half-dozen players - stood shoulder to shoulder along the wall of the Paul Brown Stadium media room. Print and electronic media filled almost all of the 40 chairs.

Mr. Lewis, who arrived Thursday night from Baltimore, started his day at 7:30 Friday morning when he was picked up at his downtown hotel.

He met with Bengals president Mike Brown and other members of the family's ownership group. He talked to members of Dick LeBeau's coaching staff who wanted to be retained by Mr. Lewis. He had lunch with Mr. Brown. He made phone calls to other prospective coaches around the league. And, after his 30-minute news conference, he sat patiently for a series of television interviews.

Never once did Mr. Lewis' confidence wane.

"I don't know about the past," he said. "I just know what I can do for the future and I have the ability to direct a program. I don't know if anyone else has stood here before and told you that. That's why the job was attractive to me. I have the ability to shape and mold everything we do, and from this point forward, I get to do that."

Mr. Lewis' hiring already has had a positive effect on the moribund organization, whose 2002 team lost a franchise-record 14 games.

On Wednesday morning, a president of a downtown-based company walked to the stadium, asked for Jeff Berding, the director of sales and public affairs. The man, whom Mr. Berding would not identify, handed Mr. Berding a check to renew the company's club seats. The reason: Marvin Lewis.

Lewis spent part of his first morning in town fielding interviews in the Bengals' locker room at Paul Brown Stadium. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

"People have reacted with great favor to the head coach," Mr. Berding said.

Many players are reacting in much the same manner.

Artrell Hawkins, Jon Kitna, Steve Foley and Justin Smith were at the stadium to meet Mr. Lewis and listen to his news conference.

"You have a question, you can go ask him. And be ready to hear the truth," said Mr. Kitna, the quarterback.

Mr. Foley, a linebacker, was asked which words of Mr. Lewis' meant the most to him.

"To hear him say we're not that far away," Mr. Foley said.

Mr. Lewis was asked whether he had to "hammer home" his goal to players of winning the Super Bowl.

"We don't need to hammer it home to our guys," Mr. Lewis said. "What I'm going to hammer home to our guys is that we're not that far away. We're going to hammer home competition, preparation and diligence in everything we're going to do.

"We're going to learn how to study. We're going to learn how to meet. Everything we do we're going to be professionals, and that's going to come out on Sunday. If we don't gain that foundation, we might go up, we might go down, but we can't ever fix it."

The first bricks in Mr. Lewis' foundation are his assistant coaches. Running backs coach Jim Anderson and offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski have been rehired, and Mr. Lewis bristled at media reports that Mr. Bratkowski was brought back without his approval.

"Everything has been done with my approval," Mr. Lewis said. "I had the opportunity to hire each and every staff member here. Any decisions being made were because of direction."

Mr. Lewis said he would work over the weekend to continue building his staff and begin evaluating the team's players. Then comes evaluation and planning for the veteran free agency period in March and the college draft in April.

Mr. Lewis also said he would take advantage of an NFL rule that allows him, as a rookie head coach, to have as many as three minicamps. His first will be scheduled for the first or second week of April.

Mr. Lewis made clear in his news conference that no detail will be too small for his attention and that he expects his players to follow his program.

"They have to understand that, because I'm standing here, it's somewhat on their shoulders as well," he said. "You can't fix the problem until you admit you're part of the problem. Now, they have a chance to be part of the solution. They've been part of the problem, a little more than players sometimes want to admit to."

Coach Marvin Lewis on ...

His philosophy of football: "You have to be aggressive, in all three areas of the game. You're going to be successful for a longer period of time when your football team realizes you have to be able to run the football."

Disciplining players, including the possibility of terminating a player's contract: "Quite frankly we might need a little of that addition by subtraction around here. We're going to set some things straight right away. ... Your little corporation can flourish or it can go bankrupt in a hurry."

On his coaching style: "The coaches who come through this building are going to be excellent teachers. They're going to work well together. They're going to push these guys from sunup to sundown. If we have to wait for them to come out of the parking lot, we're going to be standing there waiting for them. If we have to go from the dental chair to the proctologist, that's what we're going to do."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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