Brian Billick? Idiot or Genius?

**Webby** · 12-24-2005, 09:32 PM

http://www.startribune.com/stories/510/5800261.html

Brian Billick said he "never placed any value" on labels the media has used to describe his football intelligence, neither as architect of the Vikings' record-setting offense in 1998, nor when he won a Super Bowl with a record-setting defense as Baltimore Ravens head coach two years later.

"The 'guru,' 'genius,' 'mastermind,' the kind of stuff that you guys throw out sometimes, I know it doesn't exist," Billick said. "I've never in 35 years of coaching ever heard one coach refer to another coach in that way."

Billick can rest easy. Out of the playoff chase for the second consecutive season at 5-9, his "guru/genius/mastermind" days are on hiatus.

He'll settle for keeping his job beyond the next two weeks.

"Yeah, I go home and occasionally go up to my bedroom drawer and open it up and pull the [Super Bowl] ring out to remind myself I'm not the village idiot," joked Billick, whose team plays the Vikings on Christmas Day in Baltimore. "We've done some good things. But this season has been very disappointing."

Like a lot of teams, including the Vikings, injuries have affected the Ravens. They have 12 players on injured reserve, including linebacker Ray Lewis, the 2003 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Safety Ed Reed, last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year, missed six games earlier this season because of injuries. And quarterback Kyle Boller was hurt in the season opener and missed the next seven games.

"Against Denver [Dec. 11], I didn't have 45 bodies to dress for game day," Billick said. "All I had was 44. You have to remind yourself of the circumstances, but at the same time not using that as an excuse."

Scrapping for pride, security

The Ravens have won three of their past five games, including a 48-3 victory over the Packers on Monday night. It appears Billick has saved his job, but he has been given no guarantees.

New owner Steve Bisciotti keeps his feelings close to the vest. And General Manager Ozzie Newsome's stance is to not discuss Billick's future "until the appropriate time."

Asked if a coach who won a Super Bowl this decade should worry about losing his job, Billick said, "Anybody that isn't concerned with that aspect of this profession is naive."

A victory Sunday against close friend and protÃƒÂ©gÃƒÂ© Mike Tice would boost Billick's status while potentially knocking the Vikings out of the NFC playoff chase.

"I love the Vikings, I love Mike Tice," Billick said. "But I'd love nothing better than to affect their season."

Is recent success genuine?

Billick was Tice's position coach when he played tight end for the Vikings in the early 1990s. Billick was offensive coordinator when Dennis Green hired Tice as tight ends coach in 1996.

The two were together in 1998 when the Vikings went 15-1 and set an NFL record for points scored (556). They didn't always see eye to eye, to say the least.

"I think there are some stories that are probably floating around the building about Brian and I and our heated conversations about the game plan," Tice said. "But the one thing we realized is that when we got finished with the discussion, whichever way it went, that was the game plan and we were going to buy into it."

Billick became the Ravens head coach in 1999. A year later, he won the Super Bowl with a defense that set the NFL record for fewest points allowed (165).

Billick has struggled offensively in recent years, primarily because of the quarterback position. But on Monday night, the Ravens set a franchise record for points scored.

Boller had his best game as a pro, throwing three touchdown passes while posting career highs for completion percentage (70) and passer rating (136.8).

The Packers, of course, are 3-11 and were eliminated from the playoffs long ago.

"You also have to look at the other side and question how hard [the Packers] were playing," said Vikings free safety Darren Sharper, a former Packer.

Tice basically is asking himself the same thing.

"We'll find out if that great performance by Baltimore was them starting to put things together, or was it one of those deals where things worked out pretty well because Green Bay was struggling a bit," Tice said. "We won't know until kickoff. We are going to prepare like they have it all together because the tape we are looking at, they had it all together."

In other words, Tice believes his old mentor is closer to being a guru than the village idiot.