LOMBARDI'S WAY: Bisciotti settling for an average head coach?

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Lombardi's Way - LOMBARDI'S WAY: Bisciotti settling for an average head coach?

Signs point towards Billick's return

Posted On: 12/13/07

Written By:

Tony Lombardi

LOMBARDI'S WAY: Bisciotti settling for an average head coach?

So Brian Billick is returning to guide the Ravens sideline in 2008 if you believe some pretty reputable sources. Well there goes one Christmas present for me.

But hey, Steve Bisciotti is a pretty smart guy right? Self-made billionaires aren’t lucky right? But they do make mistakes and this one to me looks like a doozy!

The team is souring on Billick. Ever watch a Ravens’ sideline during a game? Despite the weekly struggles, do you ever see Brian Billick huddle with his offense? Ever see him really coach them up, ask what they are seeing out there or gather their valuable input?

Neither have I…

Sometimes I wonder who it is that he’s talking to on that headset of his. Ever wonder if that thing is just a prop?

And we’re bringing this act back for another go at it? Well fa la-la la-la!

On the first day of Christmas Bisciotti gave to us,

Billick and a new thesaurus

Who knows, that thesaurus might come in handy. After all the spinning that Billick will do defining and redefining the parameters and the profiles and the dynamics of the 2008 season we might need one. But if yours doesn’t arrive in the mail with an invitation to add your name to the waiting list for more season tickets (a list which by the way is certain to get smaller), don’t worry. Let me translate all the hot air for you now. It goes like this…

Blah, blah…blah-blah, blah-blah-blah.

Let's all join hands and let out one big collective Charlie Brown, “UUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!”

So far we haven’t heard from Steve Bisciotti directly but higher ups in the organization suggest that Billick will return and I suppose they can’t really say that without Mr. B’s approval. So he must have given it right?

But why can’t we hear it from Mr. B.? What’s the big deal anyway? We already get that he isn’t a meddlesome owner. Why the big taboo when it comes to addressing the media? Wouldn’t it make more sense for him to address his customer base and explain why he’s sticking with Billick?

Wouldn’t you like to know why he’s sticking with an average coach who has seemingly lost his team? Wouldn’t you like to know why Bisciotti thinks that years of offensive ineptitude and abysmal clock management will suddenly disappear? Wouldn’t you want to know why he believes that Billick can suddenly shape a team screaming for discipline when they apparently don’t respect him?

Sure the players like Billick because he sends them on a mid-season vacation, hands out lollipops after a tough loss and wipes the crust out of their eyes when they appear to be a little tired.

It isn’t working Mr. B.!

Since the Super Bowl season the Ravens are 60-53 and 1-3 in the playoffs. They are 23-23 over the last two plus seasons and it’s been 2,160 days since the Ravens actually won a playoff game.

Are we ok with being average Mr. B.? C’mon now you can’t be. You didn’t get to where you are in life by settling for average. Your team payroll isn’t average. Your ticket prices aren’t average. So why settle for an average head coach?

As of late there have been hints that the Ravens will bring in a new offensive coordinator. Big deal! If Danica Patrick came over to my place to drive my broken down Pinto, what kind of performance would you expect from its rusty frame and shoddy chassis? Forget about that Lamberghini in New England, could she even keep up with the shiny new Camry in Cleveland even if Stevie Wonder was behind the wheel?

And who is to say the Ravens can even recruit an innovative coordinator? Why would said coordinator be certain that Billick wouldn’t interfere? Why would he come knowing that Billick is on shaky ground? Why would he be eager to arrive when all he has to work with is a broken down Steve McNair, a consistently inconsistent Kyle Boller and the inexperienced Troy Smith?

Oh, so you think the Ravens will be drafting their next franchise QB, eh? If you are Eric DeCosta, would you want to place your first round pick and your reputation in the hands of Brian Billick? Billick hasn’t exactly been a model mentor for quarterbacks. I can think of one rookie QB who left Baltimore in ’05 and is about to lead his team into the playoffs and bears the initials D.A.

When the next “franchise” QB arrives, can we be assured that he isn’t D.O.A.?

Despite it all, Billick will be returning.

"From a general standpoint, I think my record speaks for itself," Billick said earlier this week. "It has been a tough year clearly, but I don't know how dramatically I've changed. If I was a good coach last year when we went 13-3, how is that different now one year later?"

That thud you just heard was the sound of heads hitting the sand in Owings Mills.

Call me masochistic, but something tells me that a Miami meltdown by the Ravens might be the best thing for the organization. It might also be the best reality check for an owner who fortunately has made no public statement at this time about Brian Billick’s future. So maybe there's a little time and a bit of an exit strategy there.

It would be great if Billick proves me wrong. I would welcome the taste of leather if miraculously he waves his magic wand and vocabulary at the team and they respond. I'm just not sure it's possible. I'm more convinced that it's not.

But one thing I do know for sure -- it will be no less than 2,500 days between playoff wins by the Baltimore Ravens and that is unacceptable.

Well, maybe not if your name is Steve Bisciotti.