Lewis' leaving good for 'Skins

Marvin Lewis is an excellent coach. And the Redskins should be glad he's gone. With Lewis taking over in Cincinnati, the Redskins can finally move forward with their life-after-Lewis plan. It's one they knew would have to be triggered soon. Actually, they always knew he was a short-timer in Washington, given his desire to be a head coach and the way his name popped up for every opening.

But for the Redskins to finally achieve stability, Lewis had to go. And for coach Steve Spurrier to finally be completely in charge, Lewis had to go.

Washington is expected to promote linebackers coach George Edwards to the top job, or so say all the reports. If that happens, it likely would give the Redskins someone who would be in charge for at least a few years.

Even if Edwards has success next season, he likely wouldn't become a serious head coaching candidate for at least a couple years.

I also think Lewis would have had a hard time coaching with Spurrier next season. The two sit at the complete opposite ends of the coaching spectrum. Lewis is from the mold of Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer.

Spurrier is cut from his own cloth--there's no one he's like. But could you imagine Cowher or Schottenheimer having fun coaching with someone so inattentive to detail as Spurrier?

Lewis didn't like it, either. Not that he disliked Spurrier, we're told, but that he knew things had to change. He even had a list of things that he felt needed changing, which he planned to share with owner Dan Snyder. Actually, some of those things already were discussed between the two.

Its Lewis who wanted--demanded--training camp to be held elsewhere, a wish the owner was still considering.

In many ways Lewis acted like the head coach this season, often telling Spurrier how things were done. Lewis was the one who said it was ridiculous that the trainer spoke with the media. Pretty soon, because of Lewis, the trainer no longer talked to us.

Lewis is an excellent coach, well-organized and highly-detailed. He's also very disciplined and it's clear who's in charge when he coaches. If the Bengals provide him the proper resources, he should do well.

It's too bad he couldn't stay for a while, but that was never going to happen. At least someone whom the players were around for a year will be in charge, removing the awkward get-to-know-a-new coach routine that has plagued this defense for years.

Imagine how good they can be with the same system for three years. Clearly the talent is in place, which is why they've been a top-10 defense for three straight seasons.

Perhaps Edwards is the one to finally provide stability. He's certainly a winner in all of this. But so is Spurrier. He learned from Lewis as much as, or more so, than Lewis learned from him. Spurrier needed Lewis this past season.

But Spurrier needs to be in charge of this operation and in some ways, with Lewis around, he never would be. Now that Lewis is gone, it's finally his team.