Ravens boot Billick from nest

By: By DAVID GINSBURG, AP Sports Writer

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The next coach of the Baltimore Ravens will be pressed to produce as quickly as his predecessor, who won a Super Bowl in his second season on the job.
Brian Billick got off to an outstanding start as an NFL coach, but in the what-have-you-done-lately world of pro football, his failure to keep the Ravens in the hunt for a world championship cost him his job.
Billick was fired Monday, less than 24 hours after the Ravens concluded a season of high expectations with a lackluster 5-11 record. His entire staff, including defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, also was dismissed.
“We have been losing more than winning lately,” owner Steve Bisciotti said. “I have one job here, and that’s to have a leader that I think gives us the best chance to win. … I said to my wife last night that there’s a Hall of Fame coach out there, and it’s our job to find him.”
Billick won the 2001 Super Bowl with the Ravens after leading the team to its first .500 record in his first year as a head coach. Since Bisciotti took over full ownership in 2004, however, Baltimore was 33-33, including a one-and-out performance in its only postseason appearance in 2006.
The Ravens had a franchise-best 13-3 record last year, but Baltimore lost a team-record nine consecutive games this season before ending the skid Sunday with a 27-21 win over Pittsburgh.
Hours before kickoff, Bisciotti decided that it was time to end Billick’s nine-year run as head coach.
He relayed his decision to team president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome, who backed the move.
“I believed that it was time for a change, I believed that we have the nucleus of a team that can get back to the Super Bowl, and we felt that in the next five years we had a better chance with a new coach than leaving Brian in that position,” Bisciotti said.
“He had to make a hard decision, and he did what he believes is best for the Ravens,” Billick said in a statement. “We are friends and will remain friends.”
Billick had three years left on a contract that pays $5 million per season. Bisciotti determined a few weeks ago that he would give Billick a chance to right things in 2008, but changed his mind after talking with Cass, Newsome and other NFL owners.
“We believe that we will be better with fresh blood or we wouldn’t have made this decision,” Bisciotti said. “We obviously wouldn’t fire Brian if we thought we were where we needed to be.”
Ryan will be considered for the head coaching job, and former Ravens assistant Kirk Ferentz, now head coach at Iowa, might also be on the list.
Newsome said he will “be calling and talking to a lot of people.”
Billick’s nine seasons with Baltimore was tied with Philadelphia’s Andy Reid as the third-longest current run with the same team.
He took the Ravens to the playoffs in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006 and finished with an 80-64 record.
“Sometimes the message can get repetitive after a while,” 12-year offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden said.
The Ravens expected to compete for a world championship this season after bringing back almost every starter from last year’s AFC North champions. But injuries and a turnover-prone offense contributed to a complete collapse after a 4-2 start, and Baltimore finished with sole possession of last place in the division for the first time since 1997.
Bisciotti knows there are no guarantees that the Ravens’ next coach will get better results than Billick. But he figured making a change was worth the risk.
“In order to be successful you have to take chances, and in order to take chances you have to listen to your heart. You have to go with your gut,” the owner said. “It doesn’t mean that you don’t fear being wrong, because I do fear being wrong. I could be three coaches past Brian Billick nine years from now trying to solve this puzzle.”
The 53-year-old Billick was the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings before coming to Baltimore. He was deemed to be an offensive genius when he got to the Ravens, but the team became known for its staunch defense and never had an attack that was remotely as productive as that of the Vikings in the late 1990s.
“I’m not saying I agree with it,” kicker Matt Stover said of Billick’s dismissal, “but sometimes things have to change.”

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