Cincinnati Bengals' President Mike Brown: 'I've put my bet down'

Paul Dehner Jr. | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Bengals owner Mike Brown wants to 'mend some fences' with fans Bengals owner Mike Brown looks for ways to meet fan expectations and 'mend some fences' despite distractions.

The Bengals’ annual media luncheon suffocates with sameness. The meal consists of the same five courses since, perhaps, the Nixon administration.

The salad, the mock turtle soup, the mashed potatoes stuffed between the salmon and beef. The chocolate stick in the orange sherbet has probably been around longer than Cincinnatus.

The pods of reporters form in the same spots across the wide expanse of the east club lounge. Team President Mike Brown wears the same tie and offers his same sincere thank yous to the media who cover the club. The same head coach offers up the standard optimism and excitement for a 16th consecutive year.

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That’s why the shift of Brown hammering home a message of change sticks out like an uneaten orange sherbet.

“We have had a dramatic change with our team,” Brown said. “It isn’t fully understood. We have changed our whole offensive system. We have changed our defensive system. Usually, that is associated with hiring a new coach. We did it a little bit differently.”

He's not wrong in that respect. There actually might be more change on offense, a side which retained 2017 interim coordinator Bill Lazor, than on defense with a new coordinator in Teryl Austin.

The files of the Jay Gruden-Hue Jackson-Ken Zampese playbook have been dragged to the recycle bin. Austin brings fresh eyes and concepts to a unit that middled the last two years.

There are more new position coaches than any year since head coach Marvin Lewis arrived in 2003. Brown looks at that as necessary, but also reason for trepidation early in the year.

“We brought in new coordinators and let them have their chance at it,” Brown said. “This will make us look different. It will be a challenge to digest for our players. It usually takes a little time. I will be holding my breath some as we start out with it. There will certainly be a few ups and downs with it. It should produce real change with the football team and we are trying to have change. We are trying to see if something a little different won’t be better.”

Inevitably, selling change of a franchise often defined by patience and consistency feels out of place. It’s been met nationally with doubters from Bristol, Connecticut to Las Vegas. Particularly when the most notable storyline of the offseason was retaining a coach now closing in on two full decades in Cincinnati and lacking a playoff victory.

Inevitably, Brown says he hears those doubting the first decision he made this offseason to bring back Lewis and opt to make changes to his staff, but stands by his method of putting forth the change he was comfortable with.

“We have been through ups and downs,” Brown said of Lewis. “We have had times when we didn’t agree on things yet we would work through it. I know last year didn’t satisfy our public. I know the year before didn’t. We had five pretty good years before that.

"I think I know that the success and failure in this business isn’t always the head coach. He’s a big part of it but he’s not all of it. I think that’s true when you succeed and when you are maybe a little short of what you want to be. I have come to be a little more patient. Maybe I am not right. There are people who think that way. I’ve put my bet down. We will see how it turns out.”

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REVISITING ERIC REID

This offseason, the Bengals were the only team to bring safety Eric Reid in for a visit. Not only did his trip to Cincinnati not turn into a contract, it ended up in a national firestorm of Brown reportedly asking Reid about what he plans to do in the anthem.

It is currently part of a grievance between the NFLPA and the NFL. It’s an extra sideshow on the anthem circus that continues to follow the league.

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When asked if he regretted bringing Reid in, it was self-explanatory.

“Do I regret stepping into it the way that I apparently did? I think you know the answer to that,” Brown said. “It has become a grievance, a lawsuit. I don’t want to get into that matter here. I think my counsel would appreciate my silence on the matter here and suggest I say what I have to say to him.”

Without doubt, how it played out caught the 82-year-old owner off guard.

“Am I a bit surprised about how it formed up? It was a quick-forming thunderhead,” Brown said. “I didn’t expect it, yes.”

NO APOLOGIES FOR MUSIC VENUE STANCE

The Bengals found themselves in a political dilemma with the city and county earlier this year involving the placement of a potential music venue on The Banks.

Plans were put into place to back a bid by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on a lot directly next to Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals have threatened to veto the move and prefer it on Lot 24, further away from the stadium and leaving the parking lot for tailgaters.

Brown didn’t back down from his stance on the issue, despite public criticism of this potentially burying the entire plan.

“It has become a political issue,” Brown said. “For us, for me, it’s relatively simple. My job is to protect the interest of our football team. My job is to help our fans have what they want. For our fans it is better for them if they have this area for tailgating. There is another option for this location. I happen to think the other option is a better option. If you put it on Lot 24, which is just up south of the Freedom Center, that puts the facility on the same level as the businesses in that area. The restaurants, bars, people that would service the fans of the music venue. It’s closer to them. It’s on the same level. I think it’s a better bet. I feel that way.

"But my overriding issue and I don’t apologize for it, I am obligated to try to defend the interest of the football team and its fans. I don’t think what I am pushing for is harmful. I actually think it is better for the project, better for the community. But, I know that when we get swept into these issues that I can be taken to task.”