Billick...yea or nay?

[Ravenjohn2000]

Bringing up Billicks name pushes a lot of hot buttons. Here is a simple question that I would like to see people vote on.

Knowing everything we currently know....Billick's regular season record, play-off record, Super Bowl win, drafting and 5 year run with Kyle Boller as QB, decision to cut ties with Dilfer and bringing in Elvis, handling of players in the locker room, decision to not go with Cunningham in the 2001 play-offs against the Steelers, everything...

Would you rather have Billick as Head Coach of the Ravens or would you rather have a second year HC in Harbaugh?

[purplepoe]

Bringing up Billicks name pushes a lot of hot buttons. Here is a simple question that I would like to see people vote on.

Knowing everything we currently know....Billick's regular season record, play-off record, Super Bowl win, drafting and 5 year run with Kyle Boller as QB, decision to cut ties with Dilfer and bringing in Elvis, handling of players in the locker room, decision to not go with Cunningham in the 2001 play-offs against the Steelers, everything...

Would you rather have Billick as Head Coach of the Ravens or would you rather have a second year HC in Harbaugh?

LOL.

So now Billick drafted Boller, cut Dilfer, and signed Grbac?

I guess Ozzie was asleep or out of town when those major decisions were made huh?

I get it. Billick was responsible for everything that went wrong here but not responsible for winning a SB and winning more than he lost.

PP

[Fanman]

I will take our 2nd year coach ANY day over Billick.
Billick was a players coach and a great motivator / manager.

But he could not run an offense and sucked on game day for years.

FM

[StingerNLG]

What an awesome thread this is. I guess when you make a post in another thread and you get rebuffed by more people than you thought, you have to start one of these.

Awesome.

[Ravenjohn2000]

LOL.

So now Billick drafted Boller, cut Dilfer, and signed Grbac?

I guess Ozzie was asleep or out of town when those major decisions were made huh?

I get it. Billick was responsible for everything that went wrong here but not responsible for winning a SB and winning more than he lost.

PP

Poe,

I am sure Billick played some role in bringing in Elvis and even a larger role in drafting Boller. I have simply asked a question to get a good feel for what people think. You stated that most of the fans you know liked Billick which may or may not be true.

Why post a comment but avoid answering the question? I could be wrong but I think that most people will choose Harbaugh, a second year coach over Billick. And if that is the case, then it proves to me that people don't love and respect Billick as much as you think they do.

After all, why would someone choose a second year coach before a SB winning coach who has had such great sucess?

[RavenScallywag]

I'd still take Harbaugh...I think his fresh ideas and attitude have done wonders for this team. Billick was a great coach, but his approach had gotten stale.

[Losac]

So now Billick drafted Boller, cut Dilfer, and signed Grbac?

I guess Ozzie was asleep or out of town when those major decisions were made huh?

Ozzie pulled the trigger, but you really don't think Billick had any input or say in Ozzie's ear about those decisions?

He also condescendingly told the fan base to take a "leap of faith" on his confidence in Scott Mitchell too.

Billick did good things, but also had his faults. Just like any coach. To answer the question, I like where we are now with Harbs.

[purplepoe]

Poe,

I am sure Billick played some role in bringing in Elvis and even a larger role in drafting Boller. I have simply asked a question to get a good feel for what people think. You stated that most of the fans you know liked Billick which may or may not be true.

Why post a comment but avoid answering the question? I could be wrong but I think that most people will choose Harbaugh, a second year coach over Billick. And if that is the case, then it proves to me that people don't love and respect Billick as much as you think they do.

After all, why would someone choose a second year coach before a SB winning coach who has had such great sucess?

And you don't see why making such a comparison is extremely premature has no merit?

Many people who liked Billick also like Harbaugh. Many appreciate what Billick did and were ready for a change.

However, your insistence to bury Billick is transparent and extremely petty. You ignored my response to you in another thread so you start this garbage.

I want Harbaugh NOW over Billick. It's a different team. It's a different era for the franchise.

But when people like you fan flames and make unsubstantiated claims, I'll respond. Ozzie Newsome is responsible for the players you see on the field. Do you think he let Billick decide to let a Super Bowl winning QB go and ink Grbac to a 30 million dollar deal. Absolutely not. And he traded to acquire Boller. Ozzie Newsome is the GM of this team and while he should get accolades for his great moves, his bad ones cannot just be brushed aside.

Your final statement of your post says it all. You obviously cannot stand Billick and will stop at nothing to get that point across. If John Harbaugh can match Billick's numbers, will you call him a failure too?

PP

[xmradiodave]

I am not sure I even understand this topic. What does it mean? Harbaugh is the head coach and everyone seems pretty darn happy with the direction the team is headed. While things are not absolutely textbook perfect, we are all looking forward. Billick is in the rearview mirror. While we have a Superbowl win under his banner, it was time to move on.

I am glad to take have Harbs as the head coach of the Ravens.

[purplepoe]

Ozzie pulled the trigger, but you really don't think Billick had any input or say in Ozzie's ear about those decisions?

He also condescendingly told the fan base to take a "leap of faith" on his confidence in Scott Mitchell too.

Billick did good things, but also had his faults. Just like any coach. To answer the question, I like where we are now with Harbs.

Im sure he did. Just as he probably did when they took Jamal Lewis. My point is that it's Ozzie's call in the end and when people point out calls that didn't work out, somehow that falls on Billick.

No doubt Billick had his faults. Again, we're judging a 9 year coaching stint with ups and downs to a one year stint when the team experienced great success.

I too like where we are. Who wouldn't? I'm not some blind Billick disciple or anything. But it's clear what this thread is all about. I think you can clearly see that.

PP

[Ravenjohn2000]

If John Harbaugh can match Billick's numbers, will you call him a failure too?

PP

To answer your question...If the ravens are year in and year out loaded with talent and are projected to be SB contenders and we win 1 playoff game in 7 years then the answer is yes...he will have failed.

If we, like last year are not expected to be playoff bound and are expected to win 4, 5 or 6 games and we continually make the playoffs or finish at a respectable 8-8, I would say no.

Last year was a pleasant surprise to all of us but now there are expectations. Lets see how he does.....so far so good.

[Losac]

Again, we're judging a 9 year coaching stint with ups and downs to a one year stint when the team experienced great success.

Agreed, and good point.

[Jeremiah W]

Billick had a great start, Harbs had a better one. If he can win a SB in year 2 than he can prove he is better than Billick for sure.

I did not think Billick needed to go. At least not until they got rid of him and some of the reasons and things he did came out. Some of the Harbs camp changes and approach seemed a little extreme and a lot different, but they really seemed to make a big difference.

If Billick had just hired Cam and got Flacco, there is a chance he would have had the same season, but I do not think the team would have looked as good as they do this year if they had not made the change. Under Billick the team always seemed to play well with low expectations and bad with high ones. This year the Ravens seemed to come back in the off season more focused and involved than ever in the OTAs and workouts.

[52decleetzu]

Why does anyone give a shit about a coach who was fired 2 years ago?

Is it really that important? Does it matter? (I guess to some of you it is/does)

The obsession with Billick should have left with him,but I guess not.

[HoustonRaven]

Why does anyone give a shit about a coach who was fired 2 years ago?

Is it really that important? Does it matter? (I guess to some of you it is/does)

The obsession with Billick should have left with him,but I guess not.

Can someone now start a Boller thread, too?

[POPSinPA]

Why does anyone give a shit about a coach who was fired 2 years ago?

Is it really that important? Does it matter? (I guess to some of you it is/does)

The obsession with Billick should have left with him,but I guess not.

[Mista T]

Billick was a great coach. His name is right up there with Ewbank and Shula.

Harbaugh may also wind up as a great coach. Give him a few seasons, though.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

I think Billick was what we needed for the time he was here.

He brought a sense of pride in our team, toughness, competitiveness and of course...arrogance. We won a Super Bowl, had successes in the regular and post season and put this team/city on the NFL map.

I will forever be grateful to him for that.

Now of course, he had his faults. Mainly, I was frustrated by the Boller years as I think we sort of wasted some very good years, waiting for him to realize that Kyle just wasn't cut out to be a starter. One thing in particular that I remember was when the Giants cut Kerry Collins after drafting Eli, I REALLY wanted them to bring him in. Not that I thought Collins was anything special, but what we needed during that time was a solid caretaker who could make plays when they were presented...something Collins did throughout his career (and continues to do as we see with the Titans) and Boller just seemed incapable of. I remember people here absolutely bashed me for wanting Collins here (all they could think of was Super Bowl 35), but like I said, he has done a pretty good job in Tennessee with the formula we tried to be successful at while Billick was here.

Anyway, I think the time for him to go was about right, and I think Harbs is the right guy. However, it is still early and it will be interesting to see how he handles not only the players after some of the vets that were here before leave, but how he replaces assistant coaches (including this year with Rex).

[StingerNLG]

Let's preference all this so everyone knows what the origin of this rediculous thread really is.

The OP in the Harbaugh vs. Billick Week 1 thread (another thread that wasn't needed), made the grand claims that Boller was all Billick's fault, as was Elvis, as was all the woes of the team, and even despite his record and what he did to put the Ravens on the map and protect his players was nothing but a big failure. And that even though is was never confirmed and likely not true, Billick couldn't even get a job with the Lions.

Most sane Baltimore Ravens fans, as expected, disagreed with that notion, even while acknowledging that Billick had his flaws (because no other coach in this league had them but Billick).

So, sensing that the point wasn't going his way, the OP created this thread and put up the perfect strawman arguement. Knowing that Harbaugh is the coach and he did a good job last year, the OP could take anyone who says they like Harbaugh and turn that into some justification that Billick's 9 year tenure here was an abject failure; even though there is no truth or fact to back that up.

And there you have it. THIS, is what the OP spent his time typing instead on anything relevant to the 2009-2010 Ravens, and what some have been sucked into talking about like a big Vortex of nonsense.


Hope that helps!

[sailorsam]

Billick was the right man for the 2000/2001 team; Harbaugh is the right man for this team.