BY THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Published February 11, 2002
BALTIMORE (AP) Marvin Lewis will have a new job next season after all.
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Two days after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers backed out of making him their new head coach, Lewis agreed to become defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins yesterday.
The announcement came one day after Lewis declared he would remain defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, a post he"s held since the team moved from Cleveland before the 1996 season.
Although terms of Lewis" deal with the Redskins were not disclosed, his contract is believed to be around $850,000 plus incentives, which, if met, would make him the highest-paid assistant coach in the NFL.
"Sometimes, money talks louder than words, and this is an opportunity Marvin felt he had to take," Ravens owner Art Modell said in a statement. "I"m disappointed that whoever misled us about Marvin staying did that to the Ravens."
Lewis is partially to blame, having told the Ravens on Saturday that he would stay with the team.
"I"m tired of putting my family through this," he said. "My family is happy with the area."
His contract with the Ravens has expired, and he was expected to discuss terms of a new deal with Modell over the next couple of weeks. Instead, Lewis will head south to begin employment for Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and Washington"s new head coach, Steve Spurrier.
Spurrier was seeking a defensive coordinator with NFL experience and few have done it better than Lewis, who helped build the Ravens into a Super Bowl champion.
Lewis" defense set an NFL record for fewest points allowed in a season in 2000 and ranked first in the league in fewest yards allowed. Last season, the Ravens were second in the league in defense.
The Ravens will make receivers coach Mike Nolan their new defensive coordinator. The move will be formally announced Monday in a news conference, team spokesman Kevin Byrne said.
Lewis emerged as the Bucs" prime candidate for head coach after Bill Parcells decided against coming out of retirement and Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay made an unsuccessful pitch to get Oakland"s Jon Gruden.
