Redlands' Brian Billick Fired by Ravens
Quoth the Ravens: "Brian, you're gone."
Football is like this. Well, I guess life is, too. You might be a genius for a time, but eventually you end up an idiot. You're the same guy all along ... but perceptions of you change. It's silly, but there you are. It's like you wake up stupid.
Brian Billick was a genius back in 1998, when the was offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, who scored a then-record 556 points. He got even smarter when he took the Baltimore Ravens job in 2000 and won the Super Bowl in 2001. He was about as smart as a guy could get. Smarter than Belichick.
Then the Ravens began sagging, and Billick seemed to be shedding gray matter all along. Especially this season, when the Ravens lost nine consecutive games after starting 2-4.
Billick was fired Monday, along with his entire staff, after the Ravens went 5-11. Quite a dropoff from 13-3 a year ago.
Billick still is the most successful coach to come out of the Inland Empire. He graduated from Redlands High School in 1972. He played for the late Paul Womack there, and after playing at BYU he worked his way into the coaching ranks and moved onward and upward thereafter.
Billick without question is a very bright guy. But he also is keenly aware of it, and that sometimes can be a bit offputting.
You could watch him on the sideline, and "smug" seemed to be the only expression he wore. He was smug in victory, smug in defeat, smug at midweek practice sessions. I don't know if he really felt that way, but he sure seemed that way, especially in recent years.
This season, he seemed to lose his team. Defensive players were open in their contempt for the Ravens' offense, which was bad, yeah, and Billick was his own offensive coordinator. And his offense looked uninspired and limp; might have helped had he ever had a premier quarterback. (He won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, for goodness sakes.)
Their game with the Patriots perhaps was the turning point. The Ravens could have, should have won, but bad decisions, bad penalties, etc., killed them as they self-destructed in the waning minutes of a Monday night game. Everyone saw it. It wasn't pretty.
Billick didn't seem too surprised or too broken up when he was fired. Even though the owner had given him the dreaded "vote of confidence" just two weeks ago.
Billick has three years left on a contract that pays him $5 million a year, so he isn't hurting for money. And he can get back into the game, if he feels like it. As a coordinator somewhere, for sure. Or as a head coach.
(Wouldn't UCLA rather have Billick running its program than his offensive coordinator, Rick Neuheisel? If only the Bruins had waited two days. Not that Billick would work that cheap ...)
Billick still has some ties to Redlands. Some of his high school teammates live in the area. He was close to Womack, who died in 2006. Womack used to travel to Baltimore at least once a season to see his former standout safety coach. Billick treated Womack very well.
Anyway, there he goes. Big Brain Brian, a few years ago ... now just another guy whose team seemed to tune him out and quit on him.
He will be back, if he wants to be.