Super Bowl Marriage From Training Camp To The Championship Game

A Little Different Approach One thing I learned working as an assistant coach under Bill Walsh with the 49ers is you don't build championship teams with a blueprint for a 9-7 team. Dennis Green It still amounts to nothing more than a total attention to detail and an appreciation for every facet of offensive football and refinement of those things that are needed to provide an environment that allows people to perform at their maximum levels of self-actualization," the coach said of his revolutionary new offense. Hmmmm. What ever happened to "three yards and a cloud of dust"? It's quite likely that this guy never saw offensive football as three yards and a cloud of dust. He's not what you'd call a simplistic thinker. He has a master's degree in education and has always loved to teach. Though originally a defensive coach, it was opposing offensive coaches who proved most influential in his early development. And none more so than Sid Gillman, father of the modern passing game. As a coach with the Oakland Raiders in 1966, this man got the chance to study Gillman's San Diego Chargers. However, the legendary Paul Brown was to be the strongest influence of all. This man worked as an offensive coach under Brown from 1968 to 1975. It was Brown's second tour of duty in the league, this time with the expansion Cincinnati Bengals. Brown's willingness to let his coaches coach created the perfect laboratory. And he also allowed his assistants total autonomy in building the team. The Bengals' need for innovation was evident from day one. Their offensive line was not overpowering. Neither was their quarterback's arm or the defense, for that matter. It was an ideal scenario for a creative young coach eager to earn his props. The offensive coach thought the team could stay competitive against superior opponents if they could control the ball by using short, precisely timed passes to generate twenty-five first downs a game. The Bengals' willingness to throw on any down and from anywhere on the field loudly defied the prevailing offensive strategies. The ideas the coach had begun experimenting with in 1968 as a way to help his undermanned team stay competitive had become an effective offensive system. And in 1979 the coach was named head coach and general manager of another overmatched team, a 2-14 doormat. The team's second straight 2-14 record in his first year had to be discouraging. But he followed that with a hopeful 6-8 second season. They improved to an NFL-best 13-3 the following year and earned a trip to the NFC championship game. Their opponent was familiar. The two teams had taken turns embarrassing each other during their last two meetings, but the coach had to like his chances on his home field. Only one problem: the visitors were the NFC's elite. They'd been to five of the first fifteen Super Bowls and had won it twice. They were talented, confident, and playoff tested. The home team scored first, quieting any doubts about whether they belonged in the championship game. The visitors then answered with a field goal and a touchdown. This was the first of six lead changes in the game. The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter. The upstarts regained the lead with a touchdown in the third quarter, that period's only score. The proper order of the NFL was restored in the fourth, as the playoff-savvy visitors scored a field goal and a touchdown to go up 27-21. That's where things stood when the home team took over at their own 11 with 4:54 left. Doubts about whether or not the coach and his young team belonged on the same field with their storied opponents had been answered. Doubts about whether or not his offense could stand up to playoff pOwens, Terry is the author of 'Super Bowl Marriage From Training Camp To The Championship Game', published 2005 under ISBN 9781578568826 and ISBN 157856882X.