Belichick's people skills may have let him down

Sporting News, The, Nov 22, 1993 by Chris Mortensen

In some ways, the release of Bernie Kosar by the Browns is so refreshing. How many times in midseason does a coach cut the most popular player on his team? Wait, maybe the most popular player in franchise history . . . the quarterback, no less.

Imagine the courage it took for Bill Belichick to go to his owner, Art Modell, and say, "We need to cut your guy."

How about the guts it took to tell Cleveland fans that their beloved favorite son had diminishing physical skills at the age of 29?

Or, think about the gumption it took to tell his team, "We're 5-3, tied for the (AFC Central) lead, guys, and we're going with Todd Philcox at quarterback." And Philcox threw two interceptions and fumbled twice in the Browns' embarrassing 22-5 loss to Seattle last Sunday.

What incredible faith he had to believe that his players are good enough to hold on until Vinny Testaverde comes back from a shoulder injury in three weeks.

Vinny Testaverde?

Refreshing?

Either that, or it's the most arrogant act in recent NFL history. Frankly, I don't know who's right here. No sport is influenced greater by the coach than football. He must lead, organize, motivate, etc. And, yeah, he better have courage to make decisions such as Belichick made last week.

Yet, it still might be a personality flaw that has betrayed Belichick, whom the Giants did not consider head-coaching material because of his people/management skills.

Belichick may have been inadequate to cope with this problem. No way, he decided, should Bernie Kosar be the quarterback of his football team. No way, he decided, did he, want Kosar's shadow lurking on the sideline and his presence in the locker room to distract the team from its second-half run.

The problem must have overwhelmed him. No more compromise. Goodbye, Bernie.

When Belichick talked about Kosar's "diminishing" physical skills, he was referring to Kosar's arm strength, footwork and legwork.

Because Kosar's arm was subpar and his setup slow, opposing defenses could press Cleveland's receivers and their safeties could cheat up. Consequently, the running game suffered, too.

Kosar took a lot of sacks for a lot of negative yards. Put his team in a hole. He suffered an injured elbow, a banged-up shoulder, bruised ribs and a broken ankle. "He has taken more punishment than any quarterback I have known in this league," Modell says.

Blame the offensive line? Not so fast. Like the stolen base in baseball, it is not just the fault of the catcher; the pitcher has a responsibility, too. In football, a sack isn't just the fault of the five blockers who line up tackle to tackle. For instance, it might be the tight end or the wide receivers, who failed to read the blitz properly to make an adjustment for a quick release from the quarterback.

You'd be surprised at how many sacks are assigned to the quarterback when film evaluations are made the day after a game.

Kosar's sacks surely were not mental, so they had to be physical.

On the other hand, Kosar was pretty effective when he was surrounded with gifted receivers such as Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne and Brian Brennan and a running back like Earnest Byner. They were all subtracted via free agency or trade. At the time Kosar was released, Slaughter was No. 2 in the AFC in receptions and yards for the Oilers and Langhorne ranked No. 6 in catches and No. 4 in receiving yards for the Colts.

Don't forget, too, that Kosar went through three head coaches who all had defensive backgrounds - Marty Schottenheimer, Bud Carson and Belichick. And when offensive coordinator Lindy Infante left after the 1987 season to become coach of the Packers, Kosar never got the attention he needed to succeed.

One respected NFL personnel man says he thought Kosar still could win "in the right system." He noted that Kosar moved the Browns quite well in a no-huddle drill in his last start for Cleveland, against Denver.

And Kosar made it known to everyone that his final touchdown pass, to Michael Jackson, was not by the coach's design. Kosar said he and Jackson "almost drew up the play in the dirt." It was the final drawing for Kosar in Cleveland.

When it's finished, Belichick's abstract art win make for an interesting visit to the gallery.

It makes

sense

As for the Cowboys, the signing of Kosar can be explained like this: Babe Laufenberg.

In 1990, when Troy Aikman was lost for the season, the Cowboys' playoff hopes went dead because Laufenberg (good gyuy, below-average QB) was the backup quarterback and could not deliver the goods. Dallas finished 7-9.

The next season, the Cowboys acquired Steve Beuerlein for security, and it paid off. When Aikman went doewn with a knee injury, Beuerlein stepped in and guided the Cowboys to the playoffs.

Last season, Aikman played without injury. But Coach Jimmy Johnson was comfortable because he knew Beuerlein was ready on the sideline.

Beuerlein's free-agency run this past offseason developed slowly, partially because of Joe Montana's availability to the same teams interested in Beuerlein.

Beuerlein's late signing with Phoenix left the Cowboys without a quality backup.They did sign restricted free agent Erik Kramer to a one-year offer sheet, but the Lions matched it.