Around this time a year ago, rumors started making the rounds that Marvin Lewis was going to leave the Cincinnati Bengals after the season.

Here we are a year later and Lewis is still head coach and watching as Sunday’s opponent deals with those same rumors around John Harbaugh.

Asked by reporters about the parallels, Lewis says last year motivated him:

“Last year they kind of poked the bear. They were all giving me condolences. Not this week. I’m not getting any bouquets of condolence flowers this year. Last year they were saying goodbye to me. I don’t realize how things played out. It’s ironic. It’s good.”

Lewis has been oddly confident this week as the head coach of a 5-4 team going on the road to play a divisional rival while suddenly doubling as a defensive coordinator after firing his hand-picked guy.

But hey, fans can’t complain Lewis doesn’t say enough publicly and then get upset when he opens up.

No matter what happens Sunday, Lewis has one more year left on his deal and he’s at least taken a few bold steps in firing Teryl Austin and bringing back Hue Jackson.