After Dismal Start, Coslet Steps Aside in Cincinnati

Bruce Coslet unexpectedly quit as coach of the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday and was replaced by defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau in the first NFL coaching change this season.

The resignation came a day after the Bengals lost their third game in a row and second in a row without scoring a point. They have been outscored, 74-7, and haven’t made the playoffs since 1990, the league’s longest current streak.

“He’s a good teacher . . . he’s good with players,” Bengal owner and president Mike Brown said of LeBeau. “I think he can step in now and get our situation back on course as quickly as anybody could.”

LeBeau, a former standout cornerback for the Detroit Lions, becomes an NFL coach for the first time at 63. He has spent 28 years as an assistant.

“There will be some changes,” LeBeau said at a news conference. “I think we have to take a look at everything. We think we can win on a regular basis with this football team.”

Coslet coached the New York Jets from 1990-93 and became coach of the Bengals midway through the 1996 season and guided them to seven victories in the final nine games. After a 7-9 season in 1997, Cincinnati slipped to 3-13 in 1998 and 4-12 in 1999.

LeBeau said he was stunned by Coslet’s decision.

“I tried to talk him out of it,” he said. “He was not to be swayed.”

Brown, too, was surprised.

“It was hard for me because he’s a good man, a friend and a good coach,” Brown said. “That was his call and he made it. It’s behind us now.”

Brown questions whether the Bengals gave Coslet the support he needed.

“I think we all wonder,” he said. “If we had better answers, maybe we would have had success.”

Brown intends to continue to run the team as general manager rather than hire someone else.

“I have no plans to make that change as I stand here today,” he said.

The Bengals’ 37-0 loss on Sunday in Baltimore was further evidence of their futility on offense. They had lost, 13-0, the week before in Jacksonville after a 24-7 loss at home on Sept. 10.

The Bengals are under increased pressure to win because taxpayers paid for the $453 million Paul Brown Stadium in which the Bengals started play this season.

LeBeau plans to have offensive coordinator Ken Anderson, a former Bengals quarterback, call the offensive plays. LeBeau plans to run the defense with help from linebackers coach Mark Duffner.

Cincinnati’s total of seven points in the first three games is the lowest for a three-game stretch since the 1978 team scored three points in three weeks during a 4-12 season.

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Bungled Career

NFL coaching record of Bruce Coslet, who resigned as coach of Cincinnati Bengals Monday:

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Year Team W L Pct. Fin 1990 New York Jets 6 10 .375 4th 1991* New York Jets 8 8 .500 2nd 1992 New York Jets 4 12 .250 4th 1993 New York Jets 8 8 .500 3rd 4 Yrs New York Jets 26 38 .406 1996 Cincinnati 7 2 .778 3rd 1997 Cincinnati 7 9 .438 4th 1998 Cincinnati 3 13 .188 5th 1999 Cincinnati 4 12 .250 5th 2000 Cincinnati 0 3 .000 5 Yrs Cincinnati 21 39 .350 9 Yrs NFL 47 77 .379

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* made playoffs