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By ALAN GREENBERG, The Hartford Courant
FOXBORO -- No team has won four Super Bowls in five years. Chuck Noll's great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the 1970s won four in six years, but in 1980, in their bid to win five in seven years, they finished 9-7 and failed to make the playoffs.
The Dallas Cowboys won three Super Bowls in four years in the first half of the 1990s, but lost to the upstart Carolina Panthers in the 1996 divisional playoffs, ending their bid of going 4-for-5.
The key to the dismantling of that dynasty was change at the top. Owner Jerry Jones couldn't get along with Jimmy Johnson, his former University of Arkansas teammate and the coach of those first two Super Bowl teams, and forced Johnson out of Dallas.
Although Johnson's replacement, Barry Switzer, eked out one more Super Bowl victory with what essentially was Johnson's team, Switzer's 1996 Cowboys stumbled through a 10-6 regular season, their worst record in six years, and won a wild card game over the Vikings before losing to the Panthers in Carolina.
Now, it's the Patriots' turn to try. Will Bill Belichick be using that as a motivational tool?
"We are so far away from that," Belichick said during minicamp in June. "I wouldn't even consider thinking about it. I just hope that we can go out there on a consistent basis and get lined up and run the plays somewhat close to the way they are supposed to be executed, as we have done in the past.
"Right now, we just have to put one foot in front of the other and stay on somewhat of a straight line. We are working a lot of new people together. There is no way our execution or our overall understanding or timing or any element is really anywhere close to where it needs to be. Until we can even get some semblance of that, I wouldn't even think about anything more than that. I just hope we can get to that point."
It figures to be much harder to get there if the Patriots are forced to play without three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour. Seymour was absent -- "unexcused," Belichick was quick to say -- from minicamp because he is unhappy with his contract. Seymour has two years left on his original six-year, $14.5 million deal. Although logic suggests that Seymour -- new contract or no -- will get to camp at some point, he could be the first player to hold out since Belichick took over the Patriots in late January 2000.
Although Belichick remains in charge of the league's most admired team, the Patriots enter this season without his top two lieutenants, both of whom spent the bulk of their careers coaching with him, including all three Patriots Super Bowl winning seasons.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, a gutsy, innovative play-caller and the coach who had the most to do with the molding of Brady, is now the coach at Notre Dame. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, also a great teacher, is now the Browns' coach.
Because Belichick has his fingerprints on everything his team does, including play-calling, he hasn't even bothered to name an offensive coordinator. Apparently, he and the offensive assistants will handle Weis' duties. To replace Crennel, Belichick elevated defensive backs coach Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator. Mangini, 34, a bright and intense Wesleyan graduate, has been with Belichick for nine of his 10 NFL seasons and spurned defensive coordinator offers from several NFL teams to stay with the Patriots.
Although few would argue that Belichick and Brady are the most important ingredients in the Patriots' success, the impact of Weis and Crennel was undeniable.
A year ago, when former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, one of the league's most respected executives of the late 20th century, was asked if he thought the Patriots could become the only team other than the Cowboys to win three Super Bowls in four years, he said "Yes. ... Because of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. That's four big reasons right there."
Now two are gone, and it's impossible to know how well the Patriots will do without them.
Each team, each year, is different, Belichick likes to say. Each team develops its own chemistry. How will veteran newcomers such as linebackers Chad Brown and Monty Beisel, defensive backs Duane Starks and Chad Scott, receiver David Terrell and quarterback Doug Flutie affect that chemistry? How will the rookies blend in? Could this be the deepest and most competitive team Belichick's Patriots have fielded?
"I don't know," Belichick said in June. "Let's talk about that in training camp. ... We'll see how the competition plays out."
This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on July 29, 2005.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-05/07-29-05/c01sp284.htm
FOXBORO -- No team has won four Super Bowls in five years. Chuck Noll's great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the 1970s won four in six years, but in 1980, in their bid to win five in seven years, they finished 9-7 and failed to make the playoffs.
The Dallas Cowboys won three Super Bowls in four years in the first half of the 1990s, but lost to the upstart Carolina Panthers in the 1996 divisional playoffs, ending their bid of going 4-for-5.
The key to the dismantling of that dynasty was change at the top. Owner Jerry Jones couldn't get along with Jimmy Johnson, his former University of Arkansas teammate and the coach of those first two Super Bowl teams, and forced Johnson out of Dallas.
Although Johnson's replacement, Barry Switzer, eked out one more Super Bowl victory with what essentially was Johnson's team, Switzer's 1996 Cowboys stumbled through a 10-6 regular season, their worst record in six years, and won a wild card game over the Vikings before losing to the Panthers in Carolina.
Now, it's the Patriots' turn to try. Will Bill Belichick be using that as a motivational tool?
"We are so far away from that," Belichick said during minicamp in June. "I wouldn't even consider thinking about it. I just hope that we can go out there on a consistent basis and get lined up and run the plays somewhat close to the way they are supposed to be executed, as we have done in the past.
"Right now, we just have to put one foot in front of the other and stay on somewhat of a straight line. We are working a lot of new people together. There is no way our execution or our overall understanding or timing or any element is really anywhere close to where it needs to be. Until we can even get some semblance of that, I wouldn't even think about anything more than that. I just hope we can get to that point."
It figures to be much harder to get there if the Patriots are forced to play without three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour. Seymour was absent -- "unexcused," Belichick was quick to say -- from minicamp because he is unhappy with his contract. Seymour has two years left on his original six-year, $14.5 million deal. Although logic suggests that Seymour -- new contract or no -- will get to camp at some point, he could be the first player to hold out since Belichick took over the Patriots in late January 2000.
Although Belichick remains in charge of the league's most admired team, the Patriots enter this season without his top two lieutenants, both of whom spent the bulk of their careers coaching with him, including all three Patriots Super Bowl winning seasons.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, a gutsy, innovative play-caller and the coach who had the most to do with the molding of Brady, is now the coach at Notre Dame. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, also a great teacher, is now the Browns' coach.
Because Belichick has his fingerprints on everything his team does, including play-calling, he hasn't even bothered to name an offensive coordinator. Apparently, he and the offensive assistants will handle Weis' duties. To replace Crennel, Belichick elevated defensive backs coach Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator. Mangini, 34, a bright and intense Wesleyan graduate, has been with Belichick for nine of his 10 NFL seasons and spurned defensive coordinator offers from several NFL teams to stay with the Patriots.
Although few would argue that Belichick and Brady are the most important ingredients in the Patriots' success, the impact of Weis and Crennel was undeniable.
A year ago, when former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, one of the league's most respected executives of the late 20th century, was asked if he thought the Patriots could become the only team other than the Cowboys to win three Super Bowls in four years, he said "Yes. ... Because of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. That's four big reasons right there."
Now two are gone, and it's impossible to know how well the Patriots will do without them.
Each team, each year, is different, Belichick likes to say. Each team develops its own chemistry. How will veteran newcomers such as linebackers Chad Brown and Monty Beisel, defensive backs Duane Starks and Chad Scott, receiver David Terrell and quarterback Doug Flutie affect that chemistry? How will the rookies blend in? Could this be the deepest and most competitive team Belichick's Patriots have fielded?
"I don't know," Belichick said in June. "Let's talk about that in training camp. ... We'll see how the competition plays out."
This story appeared on Page C1 of The Standard-Times on July 29, 2005.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-05/07-29-05/c01sp284.htm