ASU football adds former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis as advisor

Arizona State football has added former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis as a special advisor to Herm Edwards’ staff.

“Marvin Lewis is one of the most respected minds in our game,” Edwards said in a press release Tuesday. “Whether as the winningest coach in the franchise history of the Cincinnati Bengals, or the architect of one the greatest defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, Marvin has succeeded everywhere he has been and he has done it the right way. His passion for teaching will be an incredible benefit not only for our coaches, but also for the young men we are responsible for as students and athletes.”

Lewis coached the Bengals from 2003-2018, accumulating a 131-122 record in that span. He was fired by Cincinnati in December and eventually replaced by former Los Angeles Rams quarterback coach Zac Taylor in February.

During Lewis’ 16 seasons with the Bengals, he led the team to the playoffs seven times with five consecutive postseason appearances from 2011-15.

Lewis won the NFL Coach of the Year award in 2009 as Cincinnati finished the regular season as AFC North champions. The Bengals were division winners four times under Lewis.

Prior to joining Cincinnati in 2003, Lewis was defensive coordinator for Washington (2002), Baltimore (1996-2001) and was linebackers coach for Pittsburgh (1990-95). He was also a linebackers coach in college at Idaho State (1981-84), Long Beach State (1985-86) and New Mexico (1987-89).

“I’ve known Herman for almost 30 years and the opportunity to come and assist him and his coaches win football games is very exciting and appealing,” Lewis said in a statement. “Arizona State and Tempe have always been special to me. When I was a young coach I came to visit (ASU defensive coaches) Willie Shaw and Bob Padilla back in 1983. Dirk Koetter, who is one of my closest friends, was the head coach there, (athletics director) Ray Anderson, who I’ve known for more than 20 years, used to represent me, and my daughter (Whitney) went to school there.

“I envision just being another set of eyes, another set of ears, and doing anything I can to help the coaches. I was really impressed with the staff and what they accomplished after they hit the ground running last season. ASU is a great university and is known for having an outstanding athletic program that has always been able to attract top athletes from around the country and I look forward to doing all I can to help the program.”

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