*NEW YORK – On the latest episode of the much-discussed and recently formed “The Pivot Podcast,” longtime former NFL head coach Marvin Lewis joined co-hosts Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder for a conversation in which Lewis expressed his desire to return to the NFL as a head coach after his 16-year run leading the Cincinnati Bengals ended following the 2018 season. Watch the episode NOW on “The Pivot Podcast” YouTube Page.
“I want to coach,” said Lewis, who currently serves as a coaching advisor for Arizona State University head football coach Herman Edwards. “People are trying to see if I’m still committed, and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m here to help coach Edwards, (ASU defensive coordinator) Antonio Pierce and anyone else on our staff.
“I haven’t gotten any calls yet this year. I spoke to two teams last year. Those teams are up to eight wins collectively (as of Week 18). I really want to coach. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy working with the young players and the young coaches.”
“The Pivot Podcast” co-hosts, whose podcast YouTube platform has shot up to over 60,000 subscribers in a week, with episodes already reaching over 500,000 views, jumped in to put Lewis’ difficulties with his situation into context within the bigger picture of the NFL coaching carousel.
“I don’t think it’s a fair shuffling of the deck when it comes to Black head coaches,” said Taylor. “I think you and Hue Jackson should still be coaches in the NFL.”
“A white coach, who coached at one place as long as you did, he would have already gotten another opportunity,” added Clark. “Those coaches get to fail up.”
“Not taking a shot at anybody, but everybody wants to hire some young coach who they think is a genius, but who hasn’t done anything yet,” said Crowder.
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The dialogue around Lewis’ time in Cincinnati leads to the group asking about two of the most notable stars from his Bengals’ tenure: recent “Pivot Podcast” guest and six-time Pro Bowler Chad Ochocinco and NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, including the only time Lewis was put off by one of Ochocinco’s well-documented antics.
“The only thing he ever upset me with, was the whole Hall of Fame jacket celebration,” said Lewis, who coached Ochocinco for eight seasons. “That upset me because it wasn’t fair to the Hall of Famers. Because I said to him, ‘you could get there, but that’s not how you go about that.’
“Football was all he had. He was there in the facility all the time. If the Colts had a Monday night game, him and Carson Palmer would go to Indianapolis to watch Peyton Manning warm up. They were that into it and wanted to be great. I was blessed to have them as players.”
For Lewis and Owens, who crossed paths for Owens’ final season in 2010, it was the day in and day out effort in practice that most stuck with Lewis.
“Terrell was just so misunderstood,” said Lewis. “Sometimes it was his own fault and his own doing. But he could really play. When you get a chance to coach against somebody, and then you get to see them on your squad and watch them every day, it was a wow moment for me.”
Later in the episode, Clark’s son Jordan, who plays defensive back for ASU under Lewis and coach Edwards, joins the panel and shares his perspective on his own football journey and what’s been instilled in him by his father.
“Growing up with you as a pops, I approached things differently than other kids did,” said the younger Clark. “There are things that coach Edwards and coach Marvin preach, that you told me when I was younger. There’s a mindset that comes with doing what I want to do, and what you all have done. To be elite, you have to have elite habits.”
“In 13 years of playing in the NFL, I was never, not undrafted,” said Clark. “I never had a day in my life where I felt like people wanted me. I felt like I was always fighting for approval. Because I was like that, I always talked to Jordan that way. People aren’t going to give you stuff, you have to earn it.”
Before they signed off, the group gave Lewis another chance to pitch himself to NFL teams, as he explained the edge he’s gained through his work in the college ranks at ASU.
“The biggest thing is that I’ve been in the lab the last three years,” said Lewis. “Football has changed. When I took over the defense in 2018 with the Bengals, it had changed a lot since I had last called a defense in the NFL. The quarterback transition in the NFL, is all based off what’s been happening in college. There’s not going to be that stationary quarterback in very many places anymore. We’re preparing for those kinds of new quarterbacks every week.”
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ABOUT “THE PIVOT PODCAST”
“The Pivot Podcast” debuted in January 2022 as popular personalities and former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder host a weekly sit-down with A-list stars from the sports world and beyond, delivering relevant football discussion mixed in with everyday topics that affect viewers globally.
Rapidly approaching 100,000 subscribers after one week since debuting, new episodes drop on Tuesdays at 12 p.m. ET on their YouTube Channel, with audio also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow along on Twitter @ThePivot and Instagram @ThePivot, as well as on Facebook and Tik Tok. The podcast is produced by Shots Studios in collaboration with RFC Productions, an Emmy-award winning team committed to bringing fans the content they desire.
source: Kelly Swanson – Swanson Communications
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