Posts tagged BrianBillick at FanHouse

Willis McGahee -- of recent Cowboy-destroying fame -- was kind enough to sit down with FanHouse and talk about Brian Billick v. John Harbaugh, Guns n' Roses, Joe Flacco, bounties on players and how the Ravens got ready for the Cowboys.

Will Brinson: Willis, what's up man? How you doing today?

Willis McGahee: I'm alright, how you doing?

WB: Good man, good -- thanks for taking the time to talk to FanHouse today. First off, how'd it feel to beat the Cowboys in the final regular season game in Texas Stadium?

WM: Ah, it felt good, you know. I know their plan was to have a homecoming in the stadium, but our plan was just to go there and play Ravens football and that's what we did -- play Ravens football.

WB: Right on, right on. Hey, I heard a rumor that Jerry Jones petitioned the league to play you guys in the last home game in that stadium. Did you guys hear about that beforehand?

We say it every week, but this time it's legit: this is the biggest game of the year. The Cowboys host the Ravens tonight and the postseason is on the line. The Steelers-Titans and Panthers-Giants get-togethers will determine playoff seeding, but whatever happens, all four teams will be playing in January.

There's a very real chance that the loser of tonight's Baltimore-Dallas affair will be on the couch with the rest of us in two weeks.

The Ravens are coming off a tough loss to the Steelers that wasn't without controversy. Still, at 9-5, rookie head coach John Harbaugh has done more with this outfit than anybody expected, and the other rookie, quarterback Joe Flacco, has been everything the too-numerous-to-count "franchise QBs" of the past decade (courtesy of Brian Billick!) weren't. And, of course, there's the defense, which, as always, is dominant.

The Cowboys managed to weather a month of Brad and Brooks, and now that Tony Romo is healthy, they've reassumed the role of NFC playoff contender. There's the ongoing Terrell Owens sideshow, but I'm convinced that that's more a media creation than a divisive locker room issue. That said, it's probably in everybody's best interest if Romo only throws T.O. the ball from now on.

Eleven months ago, the Ravens were looking for somebody to replace Brian Billick, and were very interested in Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The feeling wasn't mutual. Garrett would leave his Baltimore interview without signing a contract, and eventually, Jerry Jones would pay him as much to handle the offense as he was paying Wade Phillips to coach the team.

As a neutral observer, it was hard to fault Garrett; the Ravens were coming off a five-win season and the inmates were definitely running the asylum. And there was a good chance he'd be running things in Dallas in 2009.

Now, though, Garrett looks like he may have been too smart for his own good. John Harbaugh is in the running for Coach of the Year, having led the Ravens to a 9-5 record with two weeks to go, and Garrett has coordinated up an offense that has looked one-dimensional and ineffective, and that's discounting the forgettable month of Brad and Brooks.

During a Wednesday conference call in preparation for, as fate would have it, the Ravens-Cowboys game, NFL Network's Marshall Faulk pointed out that the Dallas media has been too soft on Garrett and too tough on defensive coordinator Brian Stewart.

As to the former, the Dallas Morning News' Tim MacMahon wonders if the NFL has caught up to Garrett.

Maybe this season is no different than the others, but it sure seems like NFL officials are in the middle of more controversial calls than I can remember. It all started in Week 2 with Ed Hochuli gifting the Broncos a win over the Chargers. In Week 11, Scott Green screwed degenerate gamblers out of millions. And yesterday, it was Walt Coleman's turn.

You certainly know the story by now -- late in the game, trailing 9-6, the Steelers marched 87 yards, and on third-and-goal, Ben Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes near the end zone (his feet were definitely in; it wasn't initially clear if the ball broke the plane). The call on the field was fourth-and-millimeters. The play was reviewed and a few minutes later, Coleman announced that Holmes had scored a touchdown, 13-9, Steelers, thanks for coming.

Commence whinging.

This morning I mentioned that Coleman, after botching the on-field explanation, elaborated on the call after the game. And in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Peter King spoke with NFL head of officiating, Mike Pereira for his take on the reversal:

Some five months before the 2007 season, the Ravens, having jettisoned Jamal Lewis, were in the market for a feature back. They would send their '07 third- and seventh-round picks, as well as a 2008 third-rounder to the Bills for Willis McGahee, Buffalo's 2003 first-round selection.

It was a lot to give up, but the Ravens, coming off a 13-win season, felt they were one player away from a serious run at another Super Bowl. Turns out, they'd only win five games and head coach Brian Billick would lose his job.

McGahee would rush for more than 1,200 yards in his first season in Baltimore (4.1 average), with seven touchdowns, but he's struggled this year. In 10 games, he's managed just 521 yards on 3.4 yards per carry, and now splits time with rookie Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain.

Last Sunday against the Redskins was one of McGahee's worst efforts since coming to Baltimore (11 rushes, 32 yards, lost fumble), and he readily admitted as much yesterday. Via the Carroll County Times' Aaron Wilson:

Apparently Clinton Portis isn't the only person fed up with first-year head coach Jim Zorn. Redskins fans have had enough, too, it seems. So, naturally, with three games left in the season and Washington, after a 6-2 start, now staring at 7-6 and very slim playoff hopes, the discussion has turned to ... who should replace Zorn.

Makes sense.

The DC Examiner's Rick Snider writes that Zorn "may be vying for his job over the final three games," which, frankly, sounds like a huge stretch, although owner Dan Snyder has a history of impetuousness.

I can't envision a situation where someone of sound mind would agree to take the Raiders' head coaching gig, given what's happened since owner Al Davis fired Bill Callahan in 2003. We've seen Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and now Tom Cable amass 17 wins in four-plus seasons. Staggering.

So maybe Oakland's best hope is to find an eager, young, bright football mind, someone who would use the opportunity to get some experience, while changing the culture of losing in the process. You know, somebody like, say, Lane Kiffin.

Or maybe not. The New York Daily News' Gary Myers has a suggestion:

Former Giants coach Jim Fassel fits the profile to be the Raiders' next head coach: He wants to coach again. After the Lane Kiffin disaster, Al Davis is not going to hire another coach barely out of diapers. The hot assistants are not going to want that land mine as their first NFL head coaching job. So that leaves the recycled coaches.

Myers points out that Fassel lost out to Herm Edwards in Kansas City, Scott Linehan in St. Louis and Kiffin in Oakland, which raises more questions than it answers, I think. Fassel, who took the Giants to the Super Bowl in 2000, couldn't beat out three guys who have subsequently run their respective teams into the ground, and two of them have already been fired?

A decade ago, Brian Billick was one of those up-and-coming offensive coordinators we hear about ever few seasons -- last year it was Jason Garrett and Josh McDaniels -- and he parlayed the high-powered Vikings offense into a full-time gig with the Ravens.

To his credit, Billick managed to win a Super Bowl, something that still must sit well with the fine citizens of Cleveland, but the offensive genius label never followed him to Baltimore. And that, along with losing the locker room three or four times a season, ultimately led to his dismissal.

Billick now works for FOX Sports and the NFL Network, but you'd have to think he wants to return to coaching. He's only 54 (18 years younger than John McCain!), has an enormous ego, and probably prefers the company of anybody but Tony Siragusa on the weekends.

So how about the Detroit Lions? If not as the next Matt Millen, the next, less bald Rod Marinelli? Great idea, right, Lions fans? Right?!

Before you blow your brains out, know this: Billick ain't talking. Which is to say: there's hope he won't take the gig (via MDS at PFT):

A shocking revelation from today's Baltimore Sun: Terrell Suggs isn't very smart. During a radio appearance two weeks ago, the Ravens linebacker admitted that his team put a bounty on Steelers Rashard Mendenhall and Hines Ward. One problem: bounties are illegal in the NFL. In fact, they're almost as bad as end zone celebrations.

Suggs, in all his wisdom, tried to clarify his remarks on Wednesday:

"I did repeat the word 'bounty' early in the [radio] interview after the guy asking me the question used the word. That was a mistake ... I misspoke, and I'm sorry for that. I hope that clears this up..."

Suggs added, "Yeah, I meant to say 'maim', so, yeah, I'm sorry for that."*

Ray Anderson, Vice Admiral in the NFL Gestapo, has since warned Suggs that any more talk of bounties will result in "significant disciplinary action." I guess Suggs' admission to the existence of bounties, seconded by former head coach Brian Billick, didn't provide the NFL with enough evidence to take "significant disciplinary action."

Still don't believe Suggs? Well in his half-assed, team-issued mea culpa, he offered a detailed example to illustrate his point:

Maybe Chris McAlister lost his luggage. Or maybe he's a maverick. Whatever, first-year head coach John Harbaugh isn't impressed with the Ravens' cornerback's decision to ignore the team's dress code during last week's trip to Miami.

McAlister was wearing a T-shirt and shorts in the lobby of the team hotel prior to kickoff Sunday morning while his teammates were dressed in suits. During Harbaugh's weekly radio program, a fan called it embarrassing and referenced McAlister's past violations of team rules, including breaking curfew and skipping a team meeting prior to a 2003 road game against the San Diego Chargers.

"As far as the dress for the bus, it was wrong," Harbaugh said Tuesday night. "It was a mistake. It's been addressed and we're moving forward. We've got a discipline policy in place. We don't talk about things in the past.

It seems minor, sure, but Harbaugh's trying to change the culture in Baltimore, which previously featured Brian Billick enabling his players and it eventually turned into an "inmates running the asylum" situation. Plus, it's not like this happened in isolation; McAlister apparently has a history of breaking team rules, and in addition to wearing a t-shirt AND shorts in the team hotel, he was allegedly with three young women in the lobby Sunday morning. Oh, the humanity.