CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals have extended coach Marvin Lewis’ contract by one year through the 2016 NFL season.
Lewis has coached the Bengals for 12 seasons, the second-longest current tenure with one team of any coach, behind Bill Belichick in New England. He is Cincinnati’s winningest coach by far with 100 victories. His overall record is 100-96-2.
Lewis, 56, has led the Bengals to the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, but they’ve been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each time. His six games coached without a playoff win ranks second in NFL history.
Cincinnati has not won a postseason game since the 1990 season.
But Lewis has turned a perennial also-ran into an AFC Central contender, winning the division in 2005, 2009 and 2013.
“We have worked together with Marvin for many years, things are going well for the team, and Marvin deserves credit for that,” said Bengals owner Mike Brown. “The extension reflects our confidence in him and how things look to us as we move forward.”
Cincinnati has won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons in the AFC’s toughest division. The last time the Bengals had such a run was, well, never.
“I appreciate the commitment by management to the direction of our team,” Lewis said. “It’s gratifying to our coaching staff and to me personally. The stakes get higher each and every year, and the return of our players this week for the start of offseason work has stoked our fires. I’m excited to continue our pursuit of greatness and to be world champions.”
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