TWO VIEWS OF BELICHICK'S BROWNS: An Eagles coach and a starter from two Browns teams nearly reaching Super Bowls take different views on if it could have worked with Bill Belichick had Art Modell not hit the nuke button
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. Jim Schwartz, mastermind of the defense that has Philadelphia in a Super Bowl, was in his 20s when he broke into the NFL with Bill Belichick's Browns.
The Eagles need Schwartz to be a Belichick mindreader to balance out a quarterback mismatch pitting Tom Brady against Nick Foles.
Schwartz and Belichick parted ways in 1996, when the Browns had closed up shop but were still working out of Berea as they waited for facilities in Baltimore to open. Belichick had been head coach in the last five years of the original Browns and was fired at the '96 Combine. Schwartz kept a job in the organization and worked the '96, '97 and '98 seasons for head coach Ted Marchibroda in Baltimore.
Schwartz believes the Browns' collapse from going 11-5 in 1994 to 5-11 in 1995 had everything to do with the franchise move being announced in the middle of the season. Their record was 4-4 when the actual announcement came.
"The things we were doing with the Browns and the things that propelled Bill to so many Super Bowl victories and being known as the greatest coach in the history of the NFL? He was doing all those things in Cleveland," Schwartz told The Canton Repository before a Super Bowl practice. "We were on the right track. Bill was on the right track."
Schwartz can get plenty of people to agree with him on that, but there was another view. That is, Belichick was still working the bugs out and wasn't ready to be the face of a franchise. He used Cleveland as a training grounds and then benefited from four years out of head coaching before showing up ready in New England.
Belichick was widely unpopular among Browns fans through his first three years, and even his fourth season, which featured a playoff win over New England, got him only so far.
This was reflected by the fact the 1995 Browns, coming off the playoff year, drew only 61,083 to their home opener in a stadium that held 80,000.
Attendance picked up. Belichick's '95 Browns improved to 3-1 before a home crowd of 74,280 watched a win over Marty Schottenheimer's Chiefs. Then Art Modell hit the nuke button.
Meanwhile, Schwartz also has strong ties to current Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. After Marchibroda was fired and replaced in Baltimore, Schwartz worked for Williams in Tennessee. When Williams left to be head coach of the Bills, Schwartz replaced him as the Titans' defensive coordinator.
That led to a five-year run as head coach of the Lions. It all began in Cleveland with Belichick.
Williams is trying to help the Browns recover from an 0-16 disaster. Schwartz is trying to disappoint Belichick's dynasty.
"The biggest thing I learned from Bill probably was preparation," Schwartz said. "He prepared then the way he prepares the Patriots now. There's nothing that touches his teams that gets overlooked."
Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or
steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP