By Scott Creer
Some coaches may get more notoriety and have more overall victories. Some are even treated like gods in their communities.
But the head coach of the Super Bowl champions is considered the Zeus of the coaching world.
Brian Billick, a 1977 BYU graduate, reached the lofty Mount Olympus peak in late January as his Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV.
“I knew the morning I woke up after the Super Bowl, my life would never be the same,” Billick said.
Billick”s quick ascent to the summit has surprised some, but not those who really know him.
“He was born to do what he”s doing,” said Tom Miller, a 1979 BYU graduate and long-time friend. “Everybody expected this to happen.”
Billick himself isn”t shocked by the results so far. The Ravens” swagger, borderline cockiness, as they take the field of play is a result of Billick”s own infectious confidence.
Early in the 2000 season though, the Ravens had little to be confident about.
After a promising 3-1 start to the season, Baltimore found itself entering October thinking AFC Championship.
However, the Ravens” offense completely disappeared and Baltimore went the entire month without scoring a single touchdown.
Baltimore”s defense carried the team through the month, and in the five games the Ravens played, they managed to go 2-3 despite the offensive meltdown.
Billick gained his coaching reputation as an offensive guru, working under passing offense legends like LaVell Edwards and Bill Walsh. Now, he found himself with his back against the wall.
And if anyone counted him out then, it was a big mistake.
“He helped convince the Ravens that solidarity was a cure-all,” “Sports Illustrated”s” Michael Silver wrote of Billick.
Baltimore did not lose again in the regular season, and the winning streak continued in the playoffs. In the end, Billick found himself and his team hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl.
“This is the ultimate example of how football is not about the star quarterback, the star running back,” Billick told Silver. “It”s about team.”
Multi-million dollar contracts make the idea of thinking team first a tough one to sell.
“My number one job is suspending self-interest,” Billick said. “You do that by keeping the team mentality.”
Although Billick earns his paycheck pacing the gridiron sidelines, he has earned much respect off the football field for his way of motivating a team to play together.
Just ask Gary Williams, head coach of the Maryland basketball team.
The 2000-2001 Maryland Terrapins were loaded with talent and looked poised to join Duke and North Carolina in the upper echelon of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
All that came crashing down in an epic loss to then No. 2 Duke on January 27th. Up ten points with only 50 seconds in regulation, Maryland quickly found itself dealing with a crushing loss after Duke frantically came back to beat the Terps 98-96 in overtime.
Maryland went on to lose four of the next five games, culminating in a 74-71 home loss to perennial ACC doormat Florida State. The loss was bad enough, but the home crowd showered Williams and his talented team with boos.
Basketball analysts and sports enthusiasts wrote off the Maryland team that in 50 seconds went from NCAA title contender to NCAA tournament hopeful.
Enter Brian Billick.
Williams went to his friend and neighboring coach Billick, fresh off his Super Bowl victory, and asked if Billick could perhaps help inspire his team to salvage its season. Billick visited the team just after Maryland”s solid victory at Wake Forest.
“Sometimes as a leader, you have to admit that you don”t always have the answers,” Billick said.
Billick referred to the Ravens” month-long offensive drought while he tried to put Maryland”s losing streak into perspective.
“You”ve been through the worst and it only gets better,” Billick told the team. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it”s not an oncoming train.”
Williams is especially impressed with a few of Billick”s characteristics that help him achieve his goals.
“He”s very organized and he”s a great motivator,” Williams said. “They didn”t have any games where they didn”t show up.”
“Show up” is exactly what the Terrapins did the rest of the season too. Maryland finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country, and advanced all the way to the final four in the NCAA Tournament.
“The impact was that we should never forget the way we felt during that losing streak because that can be a motivating factor,” Williams said.
Motivating a team in must-win situations, including the NFL Playoffs and the NCAA Tournament, can be quite a task. A coach is forced to instill his players with an intense desire to perform to the best of their abilities.
“I always wanted to coach,” Billick said. “I have a huge passion for what I do.”
Add to that passion his background in public relations, and it”s no wonder that Billick has connected so well with his players.
Coaching in the NFL is much more than overcoming a weak-side blitzing cornerback. Every day, Billick juggles the egos and superstar mentalities of his players.
“I deal with 53 very different personalities,” Billick said. “You”ve got to be really tolerant of those views.”
Billick has found a secret in his coaching method. He actually lets the players bear the brunt of the responsibility.
“By putting the accountability on the players, they”ll act in kind,” Billick said. “I”ve turned it back on them.”
While Billick basks in the success of the Super Bowl victory, the rest of the football world takes aim at the new target – the Baltimore Ravens. Becoming Zeus may not be the hard part, but maintaining status as the pinnacle of coaching certainly is.
“Billick knows that Super Bowl winners better not brag too much,” said ESPN”s John Clayton, in a Super Bowl wrap-up column. “With the salary cap, free agency and tougher schedules for winners, Billick and the Ravens know the chance of repeating as Super Bowl champ won”t be easy.”
Just what Billick needs – more motivation.
