By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals coaches completed playbooks, schedules and practice plans for the Senior Bowl this week and were expected to ship them this weekend to Mobile, Ala.

Marvin Lewis and his staff will coach the North squad in the annual Senior Bowl all-star game Jan. 24.

The coaches will be off this coming week before leaving Jan. 18 for Mobile.

"There are certain parameters of being very simple," Lewis said of the game plan and plays. "You're not trying to trick each other. The emphasis is on being able to show the NFL coaches and scouts what they want to see in practice and being able to competitively play a game where the emphasis is on playing, not thinking."

Marty Schottenheimer and his Chargers staff will coach the South team. The Senior Bowl is another reunion for Schottenheimer and Lewis, both of whom are from McDonald, Pa., and played prep football at Fort Cherry High School. The Bengals defeated the Chargers in November at San Diego.

Schottenheimer's Chargers tied for the worst record in the NFL at 4-12. Normally, staffs of teams with the worst two records coach the Senior Bowl. Lewis let the NFL office know he wanted the Bengals to coach a team, and because many teams with poorer records were without coaches, the Bengals were chosen.

Lewis was defensive coordinator in the Senior Bowl as a member of the Baltimore Ravens staff following the 1997 season. He said former Southern Cal cornerback Brian Kelly, who just completed his sixth season with Tampa Bay, was the best player on the team.

The Senior Bowl provides a close-up look at draft-eligible players that Lewis said is a "very accurate" predictor of NFL ability.

"You learn who are the guys with the competitiveness," Lewis said. "You really leave out of there with a sense of who can do what."

Bengals calendar

Offseason schedule

Jan. 18-24: Senior Bowl coaching staff (Mobile, Ala.)

Feb. 18-24: NFL scouting combine (Indianapolis)

March 2: Player contracts for 2003 expire

March 3: Free agency begins

March 22: Offseason strength and conditioning program begins and runs 14 weeks

April 24-25: NFL draft

May 7-9: Rookie minicamp

May 18-20: On-field coaching sessions

May 25-27: On-field coaching sessions

June 1-3: On-field coaching sessions

June 11-13: Mandatory minicamp

June 15-17: Coaching sessions (passing camp)

---

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Return to Bengals front page...