NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.
More Coverage: Fight Club Introduction, 1st Round Seeds
Outside of that 11-5 season in 2005, and the first five weeks of the 2009 campaign, everything about Marvin Lewis' tenure in Cincinnati has been the definition of mediocrity. Four of his seasons have ended with an 8-8 or 7-9 record, his overall mark is 50-50-1, and the Bengals have never won a playoff game with him in control.
They haven't been terrible with him, but they haven't been great, either.
They're just ... there.
Lewis never played in the NFL, but he was a three-time All-Conference selection as a linebacker at Idaho State, where he also played baseball and wrestled (a plus for this competition, I'd say). He worked his way up through the coaching ranks starting as a linebackers coach at his alma mater in 1981, before eventually becoming the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 through 2001, and holding the same position with the Washington Redskins in 2002. From there, Lewis moved onto Cincinnati where his teams have been consistently average on the field, and, at times, out of control off of it.
His opponent in this opening round, Jim Mora Jr., is the son of one of the greatest quote machines the NFL has ever known. Like his opponent, Mora never played in the NFL, but he was a member of two Rose Bowl teams at the University of Washington as a defensive back.
There's a four-year age difference (Mora is 47, Lewis 51) and both have experience dealing with people who have had run-ins with the law.
Examples: Mora's starting quarterback in Atlanta was Michael Vick before he was sent to prison on dog fighting charges. In 2006, his offensive line coach was current Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable, who is currently dealing with some potential legal problems of his own.
Lewis, on the other hand, dealt with the 2005-06 Bengals. Nothing else really needs to be said about that one.
