Byline: Mark Craig; Staff Writer
Editor's note: Staff writer Mark Craig covered the Cleveland Browns during Bill Belichick's tenure as head coach from 1991 to 1995.
'Bill, what does it mean to you to start off 9-1 in the playoffs, like Vince Lombardi did, and have your name next to his?'
- A question put to New England coach Bill Belichick after an AFC Championship Game victory put Belichick and the Patriots in position to win their third Super Bowl in four seasons
I was sitting with some former colleagues in the Cleveland media when that question was asked. We shook our heads, raised an eyebrow and flashed the I-still-can't-believe-it expression we've come to perfect since Bill Belichick began dominating the National Football League like, well, Vince Lombardi.
The hero to his team's admirers and model architect for the modern sports empire was neither when he coached the Browns from 1991 to '95.
In fact, no coach in Browns history was condemned more harshly by the fans and in the media than Belichick. I had a front seat every step of the way as Browns beat writer for the Canton (Ohio) Repository.
I'll admit the criticism of Belichick sometimes was too cruel. On the other hand, the budding legend who possesses the foolproof plan and a certain eccentric charm is not the same mumbling, micromanaging egomaniac who alienated one of the most devout followings in sports during its most depressing period.
What has transpired since is a testament to Belichick's intelligence and an unforseen ability in him to change, delegate responsibility and even comb his hair and smile once in a while. It also typifies the athletic misfortunes of my hometown, which hasn't won a championship in any major sport since 1964.
As Belichick continues to hoist Lombardi Trophies, people sometimes ask, 'What happened in Cleveland?'
Not all of it was Belichick's fault. He inherited a 3-13 team that had gotten old all at once. He also was hired by Art Modell, an owner who battled against bankruptcy until announcing midway through the 1995 season - with the Browns 4-4 - that he was moving the team to Baltimore following the season.
Left on all fours gasping for air from the mother of all sucker punches, Belichick, the Browns and the city suffered through a 1-7 finish while Modell went into hiding out of fear for his life.
Some of the misery, however, was Belichick's fault, which even he has admitted. I've tried to break down his missteps into the following three categories:
1. The control freak
When I say Belichick tried to do everything in Cleveland, I mean everything.
'There wasn't anything we did that Bill didn't do,' said Kevin Byrne, who served as Browns vice president and director of public relations before moving with the team to Baltimore. 'Nothing escaped him, not even the smallest detail. He not only decided who would travel on the team charter, he was the one who made up the seating chart.'
Belichick already was a defensive genius when he accepted the Cleveland job on Feb. 5, 1991, nine days after he won his second Super Bowl as New York Giants defensive coordinator.
He was 38 with 16 years of coaching experience, none on offense. Guess whom he picked to coordinate his offense?
Himself. Belichick wasn't secure enough to hire an experienced offensive coordinator. In fact, he didn't even officially name one until running backs coach Steve Crosby was given the title in 1994.
Like everything else, Belichick tried to do it himself.
Making the impossible even harder was that Belichick also didn't trust defensive coordinator Nick Saban during their first couple of seasons together.
'On a typical Tuesday, Bill would sit in on the special teams meeting, coordinate the defense and get to the offensive meeting about midnight,' Byrne said. 'He might walk in at midnight, look at what guys like Kirk [Ferentz] and Ozzie [Newsome] were doing and say, `Naw, that's not what we're going to do.' And they'd start all over.'
In 1990, the Browns turned the ball over 46 times and were shut out by scores of 42-0, 35-0 and 34-0. In 1991, they finished 6-10, turned the ball over 18 times and lost six games by a total of 17 points.
But the offense was so archaic it angered some players, bored most fans and laid the groundwork for an ugly public divorce between Belichick and quarterback/local icon Bernie Kosar two years later.
Today, Belichick is more secure. He focuses more on the big picture while his coordinators actually coordinate. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis already has accepted the head coaching job at Notre Dame. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is expected to take the Browns head coaching job after the Super Bowl.
'Successful people like Bill don't stay the same,' Byrne said. 'They learn something every day. Bill used his experiences in Cleveland to make himself better.'
2. Ice cold coach
Webster Slaughter was a popular Browns player in the late '80s and early '90s. One day early in the Belichick regime, the receiver poked his head into the media room and made an announcement that spoke volumes about Belichick's early relationships with players.
'The way he treats you guys,' Slaughter said, 'is exactly the same way he treats us.'
Most of the core players from the teams that went to three AFC title games in four seasons during the late 1980s disliked Belichick. Among other complaints, they thought he was too impersonal, his practices too physical and his management skills too inflexible.
There were several public clashes with players, but none packed a bigger wallop than the release of Kosar on Nov. 8, 1993. During an impromptu news conference, Belichick and Modell sat side by side as Belichick explained Kosar's 'diminishing skills.'
Modell looked sad, but Tony Soprano was never colder than Belichick was at that news conference. And Browns fans never forgave him, not even when he took the team to the playoffs with an 11-5 record the following season.
When Belichick cut Lawyer Milloy last season, he had Rodney Harrison to fall back on. When he kept Drew Bledsoe on the bench after he had healed in 2001, he had a red-hot Tom Brady.
But when Belichick released Kosar, he had only third-string quarterback Todd Philcox to take over a team that was 5-3 and in first place in the AFC Central Division. Vinny Testaverde was on the team but was out for another three weeks because of a separated shoulder.
The final straw in the contentious Kosar-Belichick relationship came a day earlier when Kosar threw a 30-yard touchdown pass near the end of a home loss to Denver. Belichick screamed at Kosar as he left the field.
Kosar explained later how he had drawn up the touchdown pass in the dirt in the huddle while Belichick had wanted to run the ball. Kosar often changed Belichick's play calls when he wasn't supposed to.
Kosar's skills had diminished. But they never dipped below Philcox's on a good day.
That became obvious the following Sunday when Philcox and the Browns were beaten 22-5 at Seattle. Philcox was responsible for four of the team's seven turnovers, including a fumble that was returned for a touchdown on the opening play of the game.
Meanwhile, Kosar had been signed by Dallas. He started in place of injured Troy Aikman that day and helped the Cowboys beat the Cardinals 20-15. Dallas went on to win the Super Bowl with Kosar in a backup role.
The Browns went 2-6 after Kosar's release. Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium rocked the rest of that season with chants of 'Bill Must Go!'
Today, Belichick's system for selecting players to fit his system runs as well as any in NFL history. Scott Pioli, a lower-level personnel assistant under Belichick in Cleveland, heads the Patriots' personnel department and knows exactly which players will fit Belichick's personality and, more important, which ones won't.
'What he likes are low-maintenance people,' Pioli told GQ magazine. 'My job is to weed out the knuckleheads.'
3. No media savvy
It's safe to say Belichick got off on the wrong foot in Cleveland the first time he met with the media to dictate a list of access restrictions that reporters weren't used to at the time.
Without so much as a hello, Belichick sat down and said, 'I know you guys used to travel with the football team. Well, that's out. ...'
Let's just say a person like that becomes an easy target when his first three teams go 6-10, 7-9, 7-9.
Belichick continued to have nothing but contempt for his media responsibilities, including his own 'Browns Insider' television show that was taped at 6 a.m. on Wednesdays. He would wake up 10 minutes before taping and do the show in the same clothes he had slept in.
With the Patriots, however, Belichick has been known to study for up to 20 minutes before addressing the media. He still isn't Don Knotts, but he makes eye contact, gives longer, more thoughtful answers and, as Byrne said, 'he combs his hair.'
Whether Belichick would have taken Cleveland to its first Super Bowl had Modell not moved the team will never be known.
But when he was hired, Belichick said it would take a minimum of four years to turn the team around. In 1994, his fourth season, the Browns made the playoffs as a wild-card team while setting a team record for fewest points given up (204). They beat the Patriots in an AFC wild-card game and then lost at Pittsburgh in a divisional playoff game.
To Belichick's credit, and the continued amazement of those of us who were there from 1991 to '95, Belichick is 60 minutes from surpassing Lombardi in playoff winning percentage and Super Bowl titles.
Mark Craig is at mcraig@startribune.com.
BIO: BILL BELICHICK
Born: April 16, 1952, in Nashville
Family: Wife Debby, children Amanda, Stephen and Brian
PRE>.
Career coaching record
1991 Cleveland 6-10
1992 Cleveland 7-9
1993 Cleveland 7-9
1994 Cleveland 11-5
1995 Cleveland 5-11
2000 New England 5-11
2001 New England 11-5
2002 New England 9-7
2003 New England 14-2
2004 New England 14-2
Total 89-71
.
Playoffs: Won wild-card game and lost in divisional playoffs with Cleveland in 1994; won Super Bowl with New England in 2001 and 2003.
Super 12
Bill Belichick is 9-1 in the postseason and 2-0 in Super Bowls. Here are the postseason and Super Bowl records of the 11 other NFL coaches who have won multiple Super Bowls:
Chuck Noll 16-8 .667 4-0 Bill Walsh 10-4 .714 3-0 Joe Gibbs 16-5 .762 3-1 Vince Lombardi 9-1 .833 2-0 Tom Flores 8-3 .727 2-0 Jimmy Johnson 9-4 .692 2-0 George Seifert 10-5 .667 2-0 Bill Parcells 11-7 .611 2-0 Mike Shanahan 7-5 .583 2-0 Tom Landry 20-16 .568 2-3 Don Shula 19-17 .528 2-4
Super Bowl XXXIX
- Who: Philadelphia vs. New England. This is the fifth appearance for New England (2-2) and the second for Philadelphia (0-1).
- When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday
- Where: ALLTEL Stadium (76,877), Jacksonville, Fla.
- TV: Ch. 9
- Line: New England by 7
- Players' shares: Winners, $68,000 per player; losers, $36,500 per player.
