Tweet
From the Providence Journal, "Remember that 1994 game between the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns? Remember the magnitude of the upset when the Browns visited Texas Stadium that December and rocked the Cowboys, 19-14?
Vinny Testaverde, Leroy Hoard and Michael Jackson outplayed Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. Rob Burnett, Pepper Johnson and Eric Turner outplayed Charles Haley, Darrin Smith and Darren Woodson.
Huge upset, right? Wrong. In hindsight, the better-prepared team won. None of us realized it that day, but the Browns brought to Dallas one of the greatest football think tanks ever assembled.
Start with the coaching staff. Bill Belichick was the head coach of the Browns, Nick Saban the defensive coordinator, Kirk Ferentz the offensive line coach, Pat Hill the tight ends coach and Scott O'Brien the special teams coach.
Belichick went on to win a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in 2001. Saban was the Associated Press Coach of the Year at LSU this season, and his Tigers will play for the national championship in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Ferentz was the Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2002, when he took Iowa to a school-record 11 victories.
Hill is now head coach at Fresno State and will take the Bulldogs to a fifth consecutive bowl game this month. O'Brien is the assistant head coach of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and is considered the best special teams coach in the NFL.
Their minds helped forge the game plan that beat the Cowboys that afternoon. Saban and Ferentz will be top candidates for NFL head coaching positions this offseason, and Hill also will be mentioned.
"Amazing, isn't it?" O'Brien said. "At that time, I didn't realize how good a staff that was. Now I do. You knew they were all good coaches. But collectively, you didn't know what you had at the time."
Now look at the men who built that Cleveland team. Michael Lombardi was the player personnel director, Ozzie Newsome the pro personnel director, Phil Savage a scout, and Scott Pioli and Jim Schwartz personnel assistants.
Newsome is now general manager of the Baltimore Ravens and Pioli the vice president of personnel of the Patriots. Both built Super Bowl championship teams this decade. Savage is the player personnel director of the Ravens and Lombardi a personnel adviser with the Raiders. All four rank among the top talent evaluators in the NFL today.
Schwartz left personnel and is now the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. He has crafted the No. 1-ranked run defense and one of the NFL's top pass rushes this season. He is considered one of the game's best young assistants, and his name also will start surfacing this offseason as an NFL head coach candidate.
Here's the postscript: midway through the 1995 season, Art Modell announced he was moving the Browns to Baltimore. Cleveland went on to lose six of its last seven games, and Belichick and his staff were fired at season's end. The think tank emptied -- and all went on to achieve greater heights elsewhere.
Rick Gosselin covers pro football for the Belo newspapers, which include the Providence Journal."
Look at how far Belichick goes to have good assistants. This is why we need to get someone that can assemble a brain trust in Buffalo. Please TD! Don't let us down.
Vinny Testaverde, Leroy Hoard and Michael Jackson outplayed Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. Rob Burnett, Pepper Johnson and Eric Turner outplayed Charles Haley, Darrin Smith and Darren Woodson.
Huge upset, right? Wrong. In hindsight, the better-prepared team won. None of us realized it that day, but the Browns brought to Dallas one of the greatest football think tanks ever assembled.
Start with the coaching staff. Bill Belichick was the head coach of the Browns, Nick Saban the defensive coordinator, Kirk Ferentz the offensive line coach, Pat Hill the tight ends coach and Scott O'Brien the special teams coach.
Belichick went on to win a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in 2001. Saban was the Associated Press Coach of the Year at LSU this season, and his Tigers will play for the national championship in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Ferentz was the Associated Press Coach of the Year in 2002, when he took Iowa to a school-record 11 victories.
Hill is now head coach at Fresno State and will take the Bulldogs to a fifth consecutive bowl game this month. O'Brien is the assistant head coach of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and is considered the best special teams coach in the NFL.
Their minds helped forge the game plan that beat the Cowboys that afternoon. Saban and Ferentz will be top candidates for NFL head coaching positions this offseason, and Hill also will be mentioned.
"Amazing, isn't it?" O'Brien said. "At that time, I didn't realize how good a staff that was. Now I do. You knew they were all good coaches. But collectively, you didn't know what you had at the time."
Now look at the men who built that Cleveland team. Michael Lombardi was the player personnel director, Ozzie Newsome the pro personnel director, Phil Savage a scout, and Scott Pioli and Jim Schwartz personnel assistants.
Newsome is now general manager of the Baltimore Ravens and Pioli the vice president of personnel of the Patriots. Both built Super Bowl championship teams this decade. Savage is the player personnel director of the Ravens and Lombardi a personnel adviser with the Raiders. All four rank among the top talent evaluators in the NFL today.
Schwartz left personnel and is now the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. He has crafted the No. 1-ranked run defense and one of the NFL's top pass rushes this season. He is considered one of the game's best young assistants, and his name also will start surfacing this offseason as an NFL head coach candidate.
Here's the postscript: midway through the 1995 season, Art Modell announced he was moving the Browns to Baltimore. Cleveland went on to lose six of its last seven games, and Belichick and his staff were fired at season's end. The think tank emptied -- and all went on to achieve greater heights elsewhere.
Rick Gosselin covers pro football for the Belo newspapers, which include the Providence Journal."
Look at how far Belichick goes to have good assistants. This is why we need to get someone that can assemble a brain trust in Buffalo. Please TD! Don't let us down.
Comment