By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis seems to be well connected - and not just to everyone in the National Football League.

WELL CONNECTED

We connected Marvin Lewis to: • Kevin Bacon • Will Smith • Pope John Paul II • Princess Di • Bruce Springsteen • Vince Lombardi To see how, go to the graphic. (It's a large one, so scroll left and right. If your Windows browser shrinks it, just click on the box at the lower right to enlarge it).

Cincinnati is the eighth stop in 23 years of coaching for Lewis. Though he's a rookie NFL head coach, Lewis has been among the league's highest-profile assistants for the past five years.

So, we got to thinking: Would Six Degrees of Marvin Lewis work as well as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in which three college guys connect the actor to anybody and everybody in Hollywood?

The Bacon book and game are based on the John Guare play and movie version Six Degrees of Separation. The idea is that we are all connected by six or fewer links of acquaintance or circumstance.

We figured a guy like Lewis supported the thesis, and we set out to prove it.

We connected him to every other head coach in the NFL -- and then some.

And, hey, we even connected him to Kevin Bacon!

Lewis' connections to other AFC head coaches:

• Baltimore Ravens/Brian Billick

Billick hired Lewis as his defensive coordinator in 1999. Billick hired Gary Zauner as his special teams coordinator in 2002. Zauner coached with Lewis at New Mexico in 1987-88.

• Buffalo Bills/Gregg Williams

Williams hired Dick LeBeau as his assistant head coach in 2003. LeBeau and Lewis coached together with the Steelers from 1992-95.

• Cleveland Browns/Butch Davis

Davis hired Dave Campo as his defensive coordinator in 2003. Campo coached with Bob Bratkowski at Weber State in 1981-82. Lewis retained Bratkowski as Bengals offensive coordinator in 2003. Denver Broncos/Mike Shanahan Shanahan hired Jacob Burney as his defensive line coach in 2002. Burney coached with Lewis with the Ravens from 1996-98.

• Indianapolis Colts/Tony Dungy

Dungy hired Russ Purnell as his special teams coach in 2002. Purnell coached with Lewis on the Ravens staff from 1999-2001.

• Houston Texans/Dom Capers

Capers was hired as defensive coordinator by Steelers coach Bill Cowher in 1992. Cowher hired Lewis as Steelers linebackers coach in 1992.

• Jacksonville Jaguars/Jack Del Rio

Del Rio coached linebackers for defensive coordinator Lewis in Baltimore from 1999-2001. Del Rio hired Steve Shafer (assistant head coach) and Mike Smith (defensive coordinator) in 2003. Shafer and Smith coached with Lewis in Baltimore from 1999-2001.

• Kansas City Chiefs/Dick Vermeil

Vermeil retained offensive line coach Mike Solari in 2001. Solari coached at U.S. International in 1979 with New Orleans quarterbacks coach Mike Sheppard. Sheppard coached at Idaho State in 1980-81, Lewis' senior year as a linebacker-quarterback and Lewis' first season as a graduate assistant on the coaching staff. Sheppard hired Lewis at Long Beach State in 1985 and at New Mexico in 1987.

• Miami Dolphins/Dave Wannstedt

Wannstedt hired Glenn Pires as his assistant defensive line coach in 2003. Pires was on the staff at Syracuse with Kevin Coyle from 1991-93. Coyle was hired by Lewis as Bengals defensive backs coach.

• New England Patriots/Bill Belichick

Belichick hired Eric Mangini as defensive backs coach in 2000. Mangini coached for Lewis in Baltimore in 1996.

• New York Jets/Herman Edwards

Edwards hired Paul Hackett as offensive coordinator in 2001. Hackett hired Lewis to coach outside linebackers at the University of Pittsburgh in 1990.

• Oakland Raiders/Bill Callahan

Callahan retained Willie Brown as his squad development specialist on the coaching staff in 2002. Brown was head coach from 1990-91 at Long Beach State, where he hired Gary Zauner. Zauner coached with Lewis at New Mexico from 1987-88.

• Pittsburgh Steelers/Bill Cowher

Cowher hired Lewis as linebackers coach on his first Steelers staff in 1992. Cowher (Carlynton) played high school football against Lewis (Fort Cherry) in the 1970s.

• San Diego Chargers/Marty Schottenheimer

Schottenheimer hired his son Brian Schottenheimer as quarterbacks coach in 2002. Brian Schottenheimer was a member of Paul Hackett's Southern Cal staff in 2000. Hackett hired Lewis as an assistant at the University of Pittsburgh in 1990.

• Tennessee Titans/Jeff Fisher

Fisher hired Sherman Smith as his running backs coach with the Titans in 1995. Smith was assistant coach at Miami University in 1990-91. Smith coached with Terry Hoeppner on the Miami staff. Hoeppner worked at Miami with Ken Zampese (quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator) in 1996-97. Zampese was hired by Lewis as Bengals quarterbacks coach in 2003.

Lewis' connections to NFC head coaches:

• Arizona Cardinals/Dave McGinnis

McGinnis hired Marty Galbraith as his tight ends coach in 2003. Galbraith coached in 1991 at the University of Pittsburgh with Lewis.

• Atlanta Falcons/Dan Reeves

Reeves hired George Stewart as wide receivers coach in 2003. Stewart coached with the 49ers from 1996-2002, working the final six seasons with head coach Steve Mariucci. Mariucci re-hired defensive backs coach Ray Horton on his Detroit Lions staff in 2003. Horton shared defensive backs coaching duties with the Bengals in 2001 with KevinCoyle. Coyle was retained by Lewis on his first Bengals staff in 2003.

• Carolina Panthers/John Fox

Fox's strength and conditioning coach is Jerry Simmons. Jerry Simmons worked with his nephew, Darrin Simmons, who was the Panthers' assistant special teams coach and assistant strength coach from 1999-2002. Darrin Simmons was hired in 2003 as Lewis' special teams coach with the Bengals.

• Chicago Bears/Dick Jauron

Jauron coached defensive backs on Mike Holmgren's Green Bay staff from 1992-94. Holmgren's wide receivers coach from 1992-94 was Jon Gruden, who went on to coach the Raiders and win a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. Gruden coached wide receivers at the University of Pittsburgh for Paul Hackett in 1991. Hackett's outside linebackers coach in 1990-91 was Lewis.

• Dallas Cowboys/Bill Parcells

Parcells hired Sean Payton as his assistant head coach-quarterbacks coach in 2003. Payton coached with John Fox (defensive coordinator) on Jim Fassel's New York Giants staff from 1999-2001. Fox was defensive coordinator at U.S International in 1979, when the offensive coordinator was Mike Sheppard. Sheppard, now the New Orleans quarterbacks coach, was the head coach at Long Beach State who hired Lewis in 1985.

• Detroit Lions/Steve Mariucci

Mariucci retained Sherman Lewis as his offensive coordinator in 2003. They previously had worked together as assistants in Green Bay. Sherman Lewis coached from 1992-99 in Green Bay, where Andy Reid was another staff member. Reid hired Leslie Frazier as his defensive backs coach when Reid was brought in as Philadelphia Eagles head coach in 1999. Frazier was hired by Lewis in 2003 as Bengals defensive coordinator.

• Green Bay Packers/Mike Sherman

Sherman's assistant head coach-defensive backs coach is Bob Slowik. Slowik was a member of head coach Chris Palmer's first staff for the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999. Palmer was the first offensive coordinator of the expansion Houston Texans in 2002 for head coach Dom Capers. Capers was Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator when Lewis was linebackers coach.

• Minnesota Vikings/Mike Tice

Tice worked as an assistant for Dennis Green from 1996-2001 with the Vikings. Green hired Alex Wood in 1999 as quarterbacks coach. Wood was hired in 2003 as Lewis' wide receivers coach in Cincinnati.

• New Orleans Saints/Jim Haslett

Haslett was a Bill Cowher assistant with the Steelers from 1997-99. Cowher gave Lewis his first NFL job with the Steelers in 1992.

• New York Giants/Jim Fassel

Fassel was on the staff at Stanford University from 1979-83. Jim Anderson was on the same staff with Fassel at Stanford from 1980-83. Anderson was retained for his 20th season as Bengals running backs coach by Lewis in 2003.

• Philadelphia Eagles/Andy Reid

Reid hired Brad Childress as his offensive coordinator in 1999. Childress was an assistant at the University of Wisconsin with Jay Hayes (outside linebackers, special teams) from 1995-98. Hayes was hired as Bengals defensive line coach by Lewis in 2003.

• St. Louis Rams/Mike Martz

Martz hired Ken Zampese as an offensive assistant in 2000, promoted him to wide receivers coach in 2001 and added the title of passing game coordinator in 2002. Zampese was hired in 2003 by Lewis as Bengals quarterbacks coach.

• San Francisco49ers/Dennis Erickson

Erickson's top offensive assistant at several stops, including the Seattle Seahawks, was Bob Bratkowski. Bratkowski was retained by Lewis as Bengals offensive coordinator in 2003.

• Seattle Seahawks/Mike Holmgren

Holmgren's offensive coordinator in Seattle since 2000 has been Gil Haskell. Haskell previously coached from 1998-99 at Carolina, where the current special teams coach, Scott O'Brien, joined the staff in 1999. O'Brien went to Carolina from the Baltimore Ravens, where he had coached from 1996-98 with a rising defensive coordinator named Marvin Lewis.

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Jon Gruden

Gruden hired Art Valero as his tight ends coach in 2002. Valero was an assistant coach on Mike Sheppard's Long Beach State staff from 1984-86. Sheppard hired Lewis as a defensive coach in 1985.

• Washington Redskins/Steve Spurrier

Spurrier hired Lewis as his defensive coordinator for the 2002 season. Spurrier also hired his son, Steve Spurrier Jr., in 2002 as the team's wide receivers coach. Steve Spurrier Jr. went to Washington from the University of Oklahoma, where he coached from 1999-2001. Spurrier Jr. coached at Oklahoma with Jonathan Hayes, who was the Sooners' tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. Hayes was hired in 2003 by Lewis to coach the Bengals' tight ends.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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