Modell fired PB and Belichick

[jjakq27]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/co...-afc-beat_x.htm

Browns tinted Belichick's view

By one pretty convincing measure, postseason winning percentage, the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick ranks among the NFL's greatest coaches.

Belichick's 9-1 mark matches Vince Lombardi's NFL-record postseason clip, and with a victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, Belichick can become the first coach in league history to claim three, well, Lombardi trophies in four years.

Wonder what Art Modell, who fired Belichick from his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns, thinks now?

"At least I hired him," Modell said with a chuckle Wednesday from his home on Orchid Island, Fla. "My judgment was good in that regard."

Modell, in retirement after selling the Baltimore Ravens to Steve Bisciotti, canned Belichick as he moved the franchise from Cleveland after the 1995 season. Modell replaced Belichick with Ted Marchibroda — coincidentally the man who hired Belichick for his first NFL job 20 years earlier as a low-ranking "special" assistant for the Colts.

Modell, whose contributions are Hall of Fame worthy, said he regrets firing Belichick. The move was made, in part, because the owner wanted a Baltimore face for his relocated franchise. But it also was done to get a clean break from a coach who had one winning campaign in five seasons with Cleveland (37-45 overall) and, even worse, a horrible image and relationship with the media so beyond frosty that it was subzero.

"I saw no signs of that improving," Modell said.

Tony Grossi, who covers the Browns and the NFL for The Plain Dealer, said this was a running joke during the Belichick years in Cleveland: "If this guy ever does get the team to the Super Bowl, he'll break out in hives because of the media."

Of course, Belichick will be back on the grand stage next week in Jacksonville. He won't be there to play to the cameras, and it will be like root canal surgery to get detailed information about injuries to his players, but he'll offer insightful perspective.

When Belichick was an assistant under Bill Parcells with the New York Giants and later with the Jets, the beat writers loved picking his brains for off-the-record material. He couldn't be quoted, though, because Parcells forbade it except in rare cases — just as Belichick does now with his staff.

But now reporters will be clued into every Belichick syllable. "At the Super Bowl, he's at his best," Grossi said. "He's blossomed as a coach and also blossomed with his public side."

Belichick often says he learned much on the Cleveland job — and the fact that he's become so successful in ensuing years is a great example of professional growth. Undoubtedly, handling the media and, in turn, public relations was one of the lessons. A few weeks ago Belichick even sent several reporters Christmas cards.

"If he handled himself (with the Browns) like he does now, he'd still be coaching in Baltimore," Modell said.

They were destined to part. Belichick loves the carte blanche he gets from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, personnel power that he never would have received from Modell, who believes in GM-coach separation.

"He's come a long way," Modell said.

Kevin Byrne, a Ravens vice president, was Belichick's PR man in Cleveland. He remembers how the coach made him remove detailed injury information, such as how many games a player missed, from the weekly press kits.

"He wanted the opposing coaches to find it themselves," Byrne said, "so they'd spend an extra hour or two in their preparation."

Byrne said that when Belichick was fired "he had no friends and no sympathy." But the PR man came to understand that Belichick's media relations approach was driven by two things: a desire not to draw attention to himself and a focus that frowned on anything that took away from his football preparation. He believed his job security would be determined by wins and losses, not the quality of news conferences.

In New England, Belichick — whose teams have won 31 of their last 33 games — still runs a tight ship, with limited media access. In an age of multiple ESPNs and all-sports radio, it's astonishing that Patriots players almost never provide bulletin-board material. Undoubtedly, that's Belichick's influence at work.

"The Patriots remind me of what a lot of (former) Browns players used to say about Paul Brown," said Grossi, who wrote a book on the franchise's history. "It seemed like the players had a superiority complex. They felt that ultimately the coaches would set them up for success. That's what I sense with Belichick's impact, just like Paul Brown."

Ah, Paul Brown. Modell once fired him, too.