Marvin Lewis, a 27-year NFL coaching veteran and former AP Coach of the Year (2009), joins the Raiders in 2024 as the assistant head coach. Lewis brings with him 43 total years of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional level, including 27 years of experience coaching in the NFL – 16 years as an NFL head coach.
Lewis comes to Las Vegas after spending the last five years at Arizona State University (2019-23), serving as a special advisor (2019, 2021-23) and a co-defensive coordinator (2020). As a co-defensive coordinator for the Sun Devils' abbreviated season in 2020, Lewis helped lead a unit that ranked first nationally in turnover margin (+8) and also ranked first in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (23.2) and fumble recoveries (8).
Prior to Arizona State, Lewis spent the largest portion of his career as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals (2003-18) – becoming the longest tenured head coach in franchise history (16 seasons). Over his 16 years with the Bengals, Lewis established several franchise records, including most wins (131), playoff appearances (seven), consecutive playoff appearances (five) and division titles (four). The Bengals' seven playoff appearances under Lewis matched the number of playoff appearances the franchise had in the previous 35 years combined. Under his leadership, the Bengals reached the playoffs in each season from 2011-15, the only team in the NFL to do so. Over his 16 seasons in Cincinnati, Lewis finished with a 131-122-3 overall record in the regular season, including 10 seasons at .500 or above. Lewis was also the consensus choice for NFL Coach of the Year in 2009, when the Bengals improved from a 4-11 finish in 2008 to an AFC North Division title and a 10-6 record in 2009. Lewis became the first coach in franchise history to win the award since the team founder Paul Brown won it in 1970. Lewis coached 21 Pro Bowl players during his time in Cincinnati, with nine of those players earning the honor multiple times. Under Lewis, Bengals DE Carlos Dunlap and DT Geno Atkins developed to one of the best pass rush duos in the NFL. After being drafted in 2010 by Cincinnati, the duo earned a total of nine Pro Bowl nods in their nine seasons under Lewis, including seven by Atkins, the most ever by a Bengals defensive player.
Highlighting his time in Cincinnati was his 2015 squad that finished with a 12-4 record, tied with the 1981 and 1988 Super Bowl champions for the best winning percentage (.750) in a 16-game season. Lewis' defense in 2015 only allowed 92.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh fewest in the NFL. Cincinnati's defense also only allowed 5.3 yards per play in 2015, the 10th best mark in the NFL. The Bengals also recorded 17 interceptions in 2015, tied for the eighth most in the NFL.
In 2009, the Bengals won their second division championship under Lewis, finishing with a 10-6 record. Their march to the AFC North title included a 6-0 mark in division games, marking the first time in franchise history for Cincinnati to sweep its division opponents. The team was led by the defensive effort, finishing fourth in the NFL in fewest yards allowed (301.4 per game), sixth in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (203.1) and seventh in rushing yards allowed per game (98.3).
In 2005, Lewis' third season with the Bengals won the AFC North Division title with an 11-5 record, earning the franchise's first playoff appearance since 1990. The offense ranked near the top of the league in multiple categories, including fifth in passing yards per game (238.8), sixth in total yards per game (358.1) and 11th in rushing yards per game (119.4). Five Bengals were voted to the Pro Bowl, the largest Cincinnati contingent since the 1989 team placed six. The five were QB Carson Palmer, CB Deltha O'Neal, OT Willie Anderson, K Shayne Graham and WR Chad Johnson. CB Deltha O'Neal established a franchise single-season record, recording 10 interceptions, earning Pro Bowl and AP Second Team All-Pro honors.
In his first season with Cincinnati in 2003, Lewis helped make an immediate improvement, leading the Bengals to an 8-8 record after a 2-14 record in 2002. The Bengals' six-game improvement was the biggest of any NFL team from '02 to '03. It was also the second-biggest one-year improvement in Bengals history. Lewis finished second to Bill Belichick in Associated Press voting for NFL Coach of the Year.
Before Cincinnati, Lewis spent one season with Washington (2002) as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, leading the fifth-best defense in the league. His time with Washington was preceded by a six-season stint with the Baltimore Ravens as a defensive coordinator (1996-01), where he was a part of a Super Bowl XXXV win in 2000. In the Ravens' Super Bowl season in 2000, Lewis led a record-setting defense that allowed the fewest points in a 16-game season in NFL history (165), clipping 22 points off the previous mark. Lewis's defense in 2000 also allowed the fewest rushing yards in a 16-games season in NFL history (970). His defense also finished first in the NFL in rushing average allowed (2.7), total takeaways (49), fumble recoveries (26) and shutouts (4). The Ravens' four shutouts were the most by an NFL team since Pittsburgh had five in 1976. In his last three seasons (1999-01) with Baltimore before going to Washington, his defenses ranked second in the NFL in each of the three seasons.
Lewis's first NFL coaching job was with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he served as the linebackers coach for four seasons (1992-95). In each season from 1993-95, Lewis assisted with a Steelers defense that ranked in the top three in the NFL. He also aided the development of four Pro Bowl linebackers over his time in Pittsburgh, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland and Greg Lloyd. Lewis was part of a staff that led the Steelers to a winning record in each of his four seasons in Pittsburgh as well as playoff appearances each year, including a run to Super Bowl XXX, where Pittsburgh ultimately fell to the Cowboys.
Lewis began his coaching career at his alma mater, Idaho State, where he was the linebackers coach from 1981-84. Idaho State finished 12-1 in Lewis' first season with the team and won the NCAA Division 1-AA championship. Lewis then coached linebackers for two seasons at Long Beach State (1985-86) and three seasons at New Mexico (1987-89).
PERSONAL: A native of McDonald, Pa. ...Lewis played linebacker at Idaho State, earning All-Big Sky Conference honors for three consecutive years (1978-80)…Also saw action at quarterback and free safety during his college career…Received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Idaho State in 1981 and earned his master's in athletic administration in '82…Was inducted into Idaho State's Hall of Fame in 2001…He and his wife, Peggy, have a daughter, Whitney, and a son, Marcus, who joined the Raiders in 2024 as the assistant linebackers coach.
