Icy feelings between Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini are sure to be a hot topic today, but what about the other NFL head coach with strong Patriots ties?
This is a big day for Romeo Crennel, arguably his biggest since joining the Cleveland Browns in 2005 after serving four years as New England's defensive coordinator. A win over the visiting Bills essentially clinches a playoff spot for the surprising Browns.
Considering the way the season began, with a 34-7 home loss to the Steelers, it's been a stunning turnaround.
At the time, Crennel was thought to be on the hot seat. The Browns, who spent big in free agency and traded a 2008 first-round pick for their quarterback of the future, Notre Dame's Brady Quinn, appeared to be a franchise with parts pulling in opposite directions.
Yet Crennel's steady hand never wavered.
The Browns turned to unheralded quarterback Derek Anderson the next week, won a wild 51-45 decision over the Bengals, and have gone on to become one of the league's more surprising teams.
For the 60-year-old Crennel, one of the NFL's true good guys, the results are validation of an approach that defines him. While panic swirls, he's always found a way to remain calm.
In today's NFL, staying true to those beliefs can be more challenging than ever.
"It is a now society, people want instant success," Crennel said in a telephone interview last week from his office. "But it takes time to build something and to do it the right way. There is a process you have to go through. Some people want it done yesterday but I think it's been proven over time that the quick fixes aren't the answer, the quick fixes don't last."
In a week in which a highly paid first-year NFL coach walked out on his team 13 games into his tenure - Bobby Petrino leaving the Falcons high and dry - Crennel's words ring especially true.
Now in his 27th NFL season, Crennel is the anti-Petrino. Turns out he was exactly what the Browns needed.
Since reentering the NFL in 1999, the franchise had been a model of inconsistency and instability. Chris Palmer was fired after two losing seasons as coach, and then Butch Davis lasted four. There was one just playoff berth, in 2002, and the talent cupboard was bare.
Entering this season, Crennel sensed that most expected the Browns to continue on that losing path.
"A lot of people didn't have much confidence in what we'd be able to do," he said. "We had been laying a foundation for two years. One thing people might not have realized is that since coming back as an expansion team in 1999, they had basically started over every two years and were not able to build up a nucleus of players like all established teams have. When we got here, only one or two top draft choices were left on the team. We had to rebuild the team.
"I think what we're seeing now is that we've added some good players and people to the team and their ability is beginning to show through. It has all started to come together this year, the fruits of our labor. I think it shows that the program has made improvements and is headed in the right direction."
Some point to a favorable schedule for the Browns' rise, while others see Anderson, a former sixth-round pick, as a primary catalyst. A 6-foot-6-inch, classic pocket passer, he has thrown for 26 touchdowns and brought out the best in talented skill position players such as tight end Kellen Winslow (team-high 69 catches) and receiver Braylon Edwards (65 catches, team-high 13 TDs).
Much like the Patriots' decision to take Tom Brady with the 199th overall selection of the 2000 draft, had the Browns known Anderson would play so well they would have turned to him sooner. Anderson lost an open competition to Charlie Frye in training camp, but seemed to turn into a different player once becoming the No. 1 option.
"With a starter the year before on the team, and then supposedly the starter of the future on the team, he didn't know what his future would be and he might have worried about that," Crennel said. "Once he was told that he was a starter, he took the bull by the horns and started to run with it."
Now the Browns face a potentially tough decision with Anderson after the season, as he is a restricted free agent. Do they keep him? Do they let him go and turn to Quinn? There is also a tough decision looming with running back Jamal Lewis (921 yards, 9 TDs), who is a free agent after the season.
They are questions that will be answered in due time, and Crennel, who works in concert with general manager Phil Savage, isn't about to panic now.
But the fact that such a decision is on the horizon - and such an important game is on tap today - reflects how far the Browns have come under Crennel's unwavering approach.
Williams no bush-league pick
When the Houston Texans set their draft board in 2006, they narrowed their No. 1 spot to two players - running back Reggie Bush and defensive lineman Mario Williams. The Texans had the top overall pick and the popular choice in the public's eye was the dynamic Bush. But the team went with Williams instead.The choice was panned by many pundits, although it's looking pretty good right now. Williams was a beast in Thursday's win over the Broncos, totaling 3 1/2 sacks to give him 13 on the season.
As former Houston general manager Charley Casserly reflected on the choice last week, part of the rationale was simply that athletic, powerful, 6-foot-6-inch, 293-pound players don't come around that often.
"It's hard to find those guys, and once you find them, to be in position to select them," said Casserly, also noting that the Texans were switching from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3, so finding a pass-rushing end was crucial.
Furthermore, while a running back like Bush is also rare, Casserly thought it would be easier to find a running back in future years, later in the draft. The Texans also viewed Bush as more of a situational player, not a lead back.
Now working as an in-studio analyst for CBS, Casserly indicated he's pleased to see Williams thriving because of what he endured in Houston.
"He took a tremendous amount of unfair criticism but never did anything wrong," Casserly said. "He was one of the better defensive ends I had scouted in 29 years, but on top of that he's a terrific kid, a great worker. So from that point, it's nice to see the success he's had."
It suits this Lawyer to not defend Petrino's actions
Lawyer Milloy was seldom shy about expressing his emotions while playing for the Patriots from 1996-2002. Now in his second season with the Falcons, Milloy let it rip last week following the abrupt resignation of coach Bobby Petrino, who accepted the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas.Milloy taped Petrino's farewell letter to his locker, crossed out Petrino's signature in red ink, and inserted "Coward!" in its place. He wanted to make sure it was visible when the media entered the locker room.
"Everything he preached over the past eight months was a lie," Milloy said. "Everything he said he stood for was a lie. He came in and messed with a lot of people's lives. He wasted a year of my life. It was a cowardly act. A selfish act.
"One thing I'm really [mad] at was while he was having a half-hearted approach to games, he was putting us all at risk. His mind wasn't in it. That explains why he threw a challenge flag a play after he was allowed to. Why we went for it on fourth and 9 and punted on fourth and 1. Maybe he was on the phone at Arkansas to the [athletic director] at that point.
"The cancer was diagnosed. Never would you want it to be your head coach, your general, but in our case it was."
Etc.
Giant pat on the back
After nearly getting the boot last season, Giants coach Tom Coughlin has directed the team to a 9-4 record, all but ensuring his return in 2008. Consider these comments by co-owner Steve Tisch to Newsday last week: "A year ago the issue of change was really on everybody's mind. A year later, right now, it's more an issue of continuity. It's more an issue of protecting what we've created this season . . . Tom has performed. He seems to have really personally evolved to a place where the locker room is a great place to be after those nine victories, and even after the four defeats. The goodwill he's generated among the coaches and the players in that room, it's really refreshing, really kind of a trademark of this season."
Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
