Six years ago, Brian Billick and Jim Fassel paced on opposing sidelines as Billick’s Ravens trounced Fassel’s Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.
That same year, Rick Neuheisel had just completed his second year as head coach at the University of Washington, where he led the Huskies to a 10-win season and a victory in the Rose Bowl.
Fast-forward to the present day. Billick is looking to recapture the magic of that championship season with the added stress of a fan base and ownership frustrated by last year’s 6-10 record. As Billick works at getting the Ravens back to their winning ways, he will do so once with the help of Fassel and Neuheisel.
Fassel is entering his second year as the Ravens? offensive coordinator after spending the 2004 season with the team as a special offensive consultant. Prior to that, he spent seven seasons with the Giants before being let go following a 4-12 record in 2003.
His presence represents the first time that two Super Bowl coaches are on the same staff.
Neuheisel is in his second year as the team’s quarterbacks coach after spending most of the last 12 years coaching at the Division I-A college level. He went 33-14 at Colorado in 1994-98 and 33-16 at Washington in 1999-2002.
Billick and Fassel appear on to be on the same page, especially after he was adamant earlier in training camp that he gave Fassel the power to call virtually every play last season and not just those before the team reached their opponent’s 20-yard line.
Fassel said being a coordinator again gives him an opportunity to give all his attention and energy to improving an offense that ranked 24th out of 32 teams in 2005.
“It’s always good when you’ve seen something from all perspectives,” said Fassel on how being a head coach could benefit him in his current role. “Being a coordinator allows me to be more focused on what I’m doing. As a head coach you’ve got all types of things going on, from offense to defense to special teams, personnel and injuries. That’s why you divvy it up.”
Neuheisel said, at first, he had to adjust to concentrating on just one position after spending so much time overseeing every aspect of a football program.
However, he is thoroughly enjoying the chance to help a veteran like Steve McNair get acclimated to a new team, while also trying to help young quarterbacks like Kyle Boller and Brian St. Pierre reach their full potential.
“It’s a different experience concentrating on one position, and the focus has to be different,” he said. “But I have quality kids to work with, and it’s fun to be around them. It’s also been an outstanding experience to be associated with an organization like the Ravens.”
