How Marvin Lewis lasted 16 years, and why he finally got fired

In the waning moments of the Marvin Lewis era, it seemed like he would remain the Bengals’ head coach until he retired.

And just like that, he was gone.

Lewis’ 16-year tenure was the second-longest in the NFL, trailing only six-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick.

So, how does a coach last that long if he isn’t winning playoff games, let alone “world championships?”

It has a lot to do with what happened a decade before he got there.

In 1991, when Lewis was an intern with the 49ers, Bengals founder and owner Paul Brown passed away, and ownership of the team was handed over to his son, Mike. Sam Wyche, who was the head coach eight month prior when the Bengals won their last playoff game,…