The Cincinnati Bengals have a football history chock full of many disappointments, including a 5-14 postseason record and seven-game playoff losing streak, stretching 30 years since their last win in January of 1991.
Nevertheless, several coaches brought the Bengals more success, including two Super Bowl appearances. Here are the five best Bengals coaches in franchise history.
5. Bill Johnson (1976-78)
Bill Johnson succeeded Paul Brown as head coach of the Bengals after working as a coach under Brown. Johnson did not spend much time in Cincinnati, but he is one of the few Bengals coaches to leave with a winning record. Johnson went 18-15 in two-plus seasons on the sidelines for the Bengals, leaving the franchise in 1978 when Cincinnati started 0-5.
Johnson did not make the postseason with the Bengals, coming up second in the division in his first two seasons as head coach, going 10-4 and 8-6. “Tiger” Johnson later returned to the Bengals as a tight ends coach.
4. Paul Brown (1968-75)
Brown was the first coach in the expansion Cincinnati Bengals era, coaching their first eight seasons in the AFL and merged NFL. Brown went 55-56 (.495) in 112 regular-season games, losing his three playoff matchups.
Under Brown in the Bengals' first years of existence, the franchise, playing first in the AFL West then NFL's AFC West, won its division twice and went .500 or better five times (two of three losing seasons occurred in Brown and Cincinnati's first two years after establishing).
Brown retired after the 1975 season and he is honored as the name of the Bengals' current stadium.
3. Marvin Lewis (2003-18)
Marvin Lewis was the longest-tenured Bengals coach in franchise history, giving Cincinnati its longest stretch of postseason berths, in spite of zero playoff wins.
The beginning of the Lewis era saw quarterback Carson Palmer take over under center, winning the division at 11-5 in 2005 but losing to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers at home.
The second half of Lewis' tenure on the Cincinnati sidelines featured Andy Dalton at QB. As a rookie in 2011, Dalton and the Bengals reached the playoffs, losing as the No. 6 seed to the Houston Texans. That began a string of five consecutive wild card losses for Cincinnati.
Lewis left the organization after the 2018 season, going 6-10 in his final year. In 253 regular season games with the Bengals, he went 131-122 (.518) and 0-7 in the postseason.
2. Sam Wyche (1984-91)
Wyche is the second longest-tenured head coach in Bengals history, coaching eight seasons in Cincinnati and 127 regular-season games. Under Wyche, the Bengals reached the postseason twice and were .500 or better in five of eight seasons.
The most important moment for the Wyche era came on Jan. 22, 1989: Super Bowl XXIII, a rematch with the San Francisco 49ers from seven years earlier. It was 3-3 at halftime, but the Bengals then led by a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter. Joe Montana led the Niners to two touchdown drives, including a 92-yard winning march.
The Bengals' defense was no match for the historic accuracy and clutch of Montana and the 49ers of that era.
Cincinnati lost in the divisional round two years later. The next year Wyche went 3-13, leading to the his firing. Wyche, who died in January of this year, went 61-66 (.480) in the regular season and 3-2 in the playoffs.
1. Forrest Gregg (1980-83)
The greatest Bengals coach in franchise history also coached the team the second-fewest games on this list, unfortunately, with the biggest game coming on Jan. 24, 1982.
Gregg, who passed away in April of last year, was a multiple Super Bowl winning player with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, taking over the Bengals in 1980. In his first year with Cincinnati, the team went 6-10—only a two-game win improvement from the last two years.
Then lightning struck as Gregg and the Bengals; veteran quarterback Ken Anderson, named the MVP for the 1981 season, had the best year of his life. Cincinnati went 12-4 that season, winning the division and later beating the Buffalo Bills and the then–San Diego Chargers in the divisional and conference championship rounds, respectively.
The Bengals fell short against Joe Montana and the 49ers, one of the four teams that beat them in the regular season that year, too. In Super Bowl XVI, Cincinnati had to work out of a 20-point halftime hole, scoring 21 in the second half, but a pair of fourth-quarter 49er field goals denied Gregg his first title as a coach.
Gregg left the Bengals after 1983 to coach his former Packers. He went 32-25 (.561) in the regular season with Cincinnati and 2-2 in the playoffs.
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