Coslet Will Return In 2000

December 27, 1999 / 6:40 PM EST / CBS/AP

Cincinnati Bengals president Mike Brown said Monday that Bruce Coslet will be back as the team's coach in 2000, ending weeks of speculation about whether Coslet would be fired.

"Bruce will coach here next year," Brown said in a telephone interview Monday night. "He is a good coach, a fine teacher and a good organizer.

"Despite the fact we've had some tough times, I see improvement and don't blame him for all the things that went wrong this season."

Asked whether he had considered firing Coslet at any point during the Bengals' 4-11 season, Brown said, "Bruce will be back next year and I think that speaks for itself."

Coslet told WCPO-TV earlier in the day that Brown had assured him no coaching change was planned.

"Mike told me he's going to keep me," Coslet said. "It's not really a point of keeping me. It's a point of honoring my contract."

The Bengals (4-11) lost to Baltimore 22-0 on Sunday, ending Cincinnati's three-game winning streak. The loss dropped the Bengals to 52-107 for the 1990s, one more loss than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had in the 1980s.

Cincinnati hasn't made the NFL playoffs since 1990. Coslet, who took over for Dave Shula during the 1996 season, is 21-35 in his three-plus seasons with the Bengals. He is under contract for next year and has an option for 2001.

The Bengals are under increased pressure to win because they will move next season into the new Paul Brown Stadium, a $400 million project paid for by the taxpayers. It is being built a few blocks from the Bengals' current home in Cinergy Field and is to open for preseason games in August 2000.