What do I want in a head coach?
Now that Steve Bisicotti has made his stamp on the team, establishing that he is indeed the football boss in Baltimore, where do they go next? The “who” has a lot of candidates. Names being thrown around in the short 24 hours since the release of Brian Billick are endless. There are established NFL head coaches, college coaches, qualified assistants, and several others. I am not as concerned with the “who” as much as I am concerned with the “what”.
What do we want in a head coach? More importantly what do we need? Do we need another so-called offensive guru, such as Jason Garrett (Cowboys) and Josh McDaniels (Patriots)? Do we need the established NFL leader like Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer? Do we go to the college ranks? Pee Wee? High School? Just kidding.
What is it we need in a head coach? We need a motivator, we need someone that can come into the existing system and succeed. This team was built around two things, running the ball and defense. The offensive line are best at opening holes for the run, not pass blocking. The problem Billick had was trying to change that. I will not rehash things I have already written, but in order to make the Baltimore Ravens suddenly become the New England Patriots, or the recent St. Louis Rams would require and entire offensive personnel change. There is no Randy Moss in Baltimore. There is no Tom Brady here.
Baltimore has a pretty good Running back, and a decent one waiting in the wings if Cory Ross was his real self against the Steelers. Troy Smith has shown constant improvement in the three games he has played (ratings: 58.5, 77.7, 90.2), but again he is not Tom Brady, he is Troy Smith. But he has shown the confidence and poise that is needed in the NFL.
Do we want a head coach that is going to come in and totally change the face of the team? I want a head coach that can take what is there and make it better. I like the smash mouth pressuring defense. I like the grind it out clock eating running game. No more offensive genius’ please.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Mike Zoran, Ravens Roost Writer Articles / Opinions.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
THE AUTHOR
RECENT ARTICLES BY DIVISION RIVALS
ARCHIVE
SPONSORS
Online Seats
Baltimore Ravens football washington nationals Tickets
Ticket Specialists
Baltimore Ravens Tickets Baltimore orioles Tickets
Coast to Coast Tickets
NFL Football Tickets Baltimore Ravens Football Tickets Super Bowl Tickets College Football Tickets Baltimore Orioles Tickets
Great Seats
Baltimore Ravens Tickets Tickets to the Baltimore Orioles Washington Redskins home games Tickets to the Washington Nationals DC/MD/VA Sports Events
7 Responses to “What do I want in a head coach?”
January 1st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Mike,
One candidate, Rex Ryan, might not be the best choice if for no other reason then he would be inclined to bring back many of current positional coaches, who in my mind were a big part of the problems this season. The only problem with not elevating Ryan is that he may get a head coach position elsewhere.
I would like to see Ryan stay on as the Defensive Coordinator and make a clean sweep of the rest. Does anyone think our receivers showed significant improvement this year? Or the offensive line? I know the O- line has a number of young players that need time to jell, but did they show any real improvement from the beginning of the season to the end? Not much if any. Much of the blame has to go to the position coaches.
One thing I think they need to look for in their new head coach is a higher priority for team discipline. If, as it was reported, the players were the ones who were most responsible for the firing by their response to the front office’s interviews, they may live to regret it. No more going home during training camp, and for that matter no more Camp Creampuff. Maybe the new head coach will call them out during press conferences, instead of making excuses for them as Billick did. I think a little humility would do a lot of these players good.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I REALLY THINK IT’S A JOKE TO SAY, THE RAVENS NEED A COACH THAT TRY AND RUN THE SAME TYPE OF OFFENSIVE SYSTEM AS DID BILLICK. 1ST DOWN-RUN, 2 DOWN-RUN, 3RD DOWN THROW A 5 YARD PASS AND HOPE THEY BREAK A TACKLE ARE YOU KIDDING ME. THE 3 YARDS AND A CLOUD OF DUST OFFENSE’S DON’T WIN ANYMORE(LOOK AT THE PATS,COLTS,CHARGERS,COWBOYS,PACKERS) AND YOU CAN’T SAY THE RAVENS DON’T HAVE THOSE PLAYERS IF WE DON’T CALL THOSE PLAYS OR OPEN UP THE OFFENSE.
I LIKE DARLING,WILLIAMS,CLAYTON AS RECEIVERS THAT COULD EXCELS IN A PASSING SYSTEM, COMBINED WITH MCGAHEE, AND ROSS AS HIS BACKUP IS GOOD WEAPONS. WE SHOULD CUT MCNAIR,BOLLER,S ROLLE, AND CHANGE THE DEFENSE TO 4-3 DRAFT THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER AVAILABLE IN THE FIRST AND THEN ERIC AINGE OR COLT BRENNAN IN THE SECOND AND START FROM THERE. ALSO ACQUIRE A GOOD VETERAN AND LET THEM BATTLE FOR THE JOB.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Yes, finally I created an argument.
Let me clarify this a little though. No I do not want a system that only runs. But I do want a system that is actually balanced to where it can either run or pass. I prefer the run because it runs the clock and keeps the ball away from those high powered offenses out there. But to be potent the threat of a passing game must always be there. I am a believer that the run opens up the pass.
The running on 1st, 2nd and a short pass on third was definitly a Billick problem. But also how many times this season did we see him try to throw it on those 2nd, and 3rd downs with short yardage, then complain when they didn’t make it.
We shall wait and see who it is the team will find. That will determine the direction that they wish to go in.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
Wow…I am still in shock over the firing of Billick and the way it went down….am I the only one who thinks Brian got a raw deal? More to come on this…
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I don’t think he got a raw deal. In reports coming out since the announcement it is being siad that even though the team is not obligated to pay the 15 mil on his contract (only 5 guaranteed) they will. The same for all coaches who were also let go at the same time.
I was suprised given the talk over the past month that he would be back. But hey, ownership requires the tough decisions. Steve Bisciotti is not Peter Angelo. Steve is smart enough to know what he does not know. This search will entrely be in the hands of Ozzie.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I follow your thread, Mike Z., but also: Bisciotti is so rich I doubt the money matters to him anyway. Fact is, he would probably prefer to pay Billick $15 million NOT to coach in the NFL for the next 3 years, because he knows if Billick coaches somewhere else it may be Billick’s new team blowing the Ravens away on national TV next year…and sweet revenge for Billick. Probably not a scenario Bisciotti would have the stomach for…
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Are you guys kidding me? Man, we need to go back about 10 to 15 articles AND comments on here to both Dr.Z and Rev Brown!!!
I threw a freaking party when I saw the breaking news on sports center!!!!
and MOST of the readers and comments written here over the past few months were begging for Billick to be gone!!! It is a new year, a new season, new hope, and definitely after Troy Smith’s performances in the last 3 games something damn sure to get fired up about.
STOP WHINING AND START CELEBRATING.
Baltimore has a “GREAT TEAM”! Everyone here said they just needed good direction! Didn’t you all? All of you cheered when Mac, and Ray Lewis spoke their minds about Brian Billick’s ego… do you remember?
So quit your bitchin and be happy! Personally, I know I will be called out for this one but I am praying for Bill Cowher!!! He knows what we have, and how to use what we have as weapons!!! Money money money. So what! Let Brian Billick bring a team back at us this year and any year…. are we whimps or are we READY for the Challenge?
Sorry for the anger…
Love the Ravens…
and you to Dr. Z..
Been working 24/7 and have had no time to catch up.
I am caught up now!
So let’s get on the same page… like we used to be as fans when we all thought WE COULD DO A BETTER JOB!
GO RAVENS!
raven addict laura
Leave a comment