By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

No detail has proven too small for Marvin Lewis' attention.

Since he reported for his first day of work two weeks ago this morning, the new Bengals coach has hired a staff of assistants, made a half-dozen public appearances, organized a meeting of all club employees, started tinkering with the team's training camp site and made a bid to purchase locker-room stools for players.

"I've had the chance to work for people who've done it the right way," Lewis said Thursday. "Of course, new things come up every day. But the idea is, let's try to diminish as many of them as we can. Let's try to pre-think as many things as possible and have a plan ready."

Lewis already is planning for training camp at Georgetown College near Lexington. He and Bengals business manager Bill Connelly have discussed the physical layout of the complex, and Connelly has shown maps to Lewis.

"I'm anxious to get to Georgetown as soon as the weather breaks," Lewis said. "The issue is space. I want to make sure we don't wear out practice fields that wear out our legs."

Earlier this week, Lewis called a gathering of all club employees in one of the team's meeting rooms. He introduced his coaching staff and had department heads introduce their staffs. The meeting was a success, and Lewis emphasized that every employee is important and plays a part in helping get a winning team on the field. The idea was not original, though.

"Brian did it," Lewis said of Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick, Lewis' boss for three seasons. "I think it's important that everybody here knows the value of their job."

Bengals president Mike Brown introduced his family members, said he liked Lewis' idea and could not recall it happening before in the organization.

Lewis also has made several public appearances - including sitting for various television and radio interviews. He also dropped the puck earlier in the week at a Cincinnati Cyclones hockey game.

"Everybody wants to talk about what we're doing here. We need to undersell and overproduce," he said. "There will be a point when I can't do that (when the season starts). Obviously, I'm glad there is the interest, but I know the job I was hired to do."

Lewis also convened his staff for the first time Tuesday. Most of the assistants knew one another already, and Lewis said they have started working effectively and efficiently. "Otherwise they wouldn't be here," he said.

At this point, the coaches are "trying to get up to speed on our players," Lewis said.

Nine of the assistant coaches are new, including defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski heads a list of six returning coaches from Dick LeBeau's 2002 staff.

Lewis' staff is preparing for the annual scouting combine, Feb.18-24 at Indianapolis.

Lewis also has scheduled tentative dates for three team minicamp events - April 11-13, May 2-14 and June 9-11 at Paul Brown Stadium.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com