Brooke Kuhl-McClelland has won a state title each of the past six years and lost just once since taking over the Mount Hebron girls? lacrosse team in 2001, so she knows how to lead a team to victory.
She?s also attended every home Ravens regular or playoff game since the franchise moved from Cleveland in 1996, so she knows something needed to be done to improve the franchise.
“But was getting rid of Coach Billick and the whole staff the right move? I?m kind of undecided,” she said. “My concern is if we?ll find someone better. I would have liked to bring in an offensive coordinator, but from what I understand, that is something Brian [Billick] was not going to do since he wants to be the head coach and have his stamp on everything.”
Kuhl-McClelland, a Towson resident and teacher at Hammond High School in Columbia, was one of thousands of Ravens fans who had plenty to talk about as the team dismissed its entire coaching staff on Monday ? fewer than 24 hours after concluding a 5-11 season.
“I?m surprised,” said Scott Robinson, a Clarksville resident and basketball coach at Mount Hebron High in Ellicott City. “He won a Super Bowl in his second year and turned the franchise around, but a coach has a shelf life and he got stale. I hope it wasn?t the case of the players running the coaches out.”
Billick?s legacy ? one that spanned nine years and a record of 85-67 ? was at the center of his ousting. On one side, he led the Ravens to a Super Bowl title and two division titles; on the other, he missed the playoffs in four of the past five years in a league where teams often go from last place to division champion, like New Orleans last season.
“I?m happy, hell yes,” said Marcus Lewis, a Ravens fan from Westminster. “I mean, shoot, Billick has had plenty of time to get the ship right. He was supposed to be an offensive genius, and we haven?t had an offense sine he got here. I?m not happy they lost their jobs, but the time had come for a change. It got to the point when you?d watch the game, you would kind of sit around and wait for the defense to get on the field.”
But for many Ravens fans, the team?s 13-3 season in 2006 was a distant memory compared to the harsh reality of a 5-11 season, which featured a franchise-record nine-game losing streak. A year after only one team ? San Diego ? won more regular season games than the Ravens, Baltimore?s win total this year trumped just six teams.
“It?s time for a change,” Jeff Doolan, a Westminster resident said. “Coach Billick did some good things. He won the Super Bowl, but the same message can be heard for only so long. It?s not high school or college where you get new kids every few years. But I?d rather have a new quarterback than a new coach.”
