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COACH'S CORNER |
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Thursday - 8/24/2000
It is my hope that this forum gives you the fan an insight to the inner workings and perspectives of the Baltimore Ravens. There has been a great deal of conjecture about how good this team is and its �potential� to not only make the playoffs but make a run at the Super Bowl. We are the ones that have set those expectations and it is time to deliver. The fans in Baltimore have been incredibly supportive and it is time to reward that support. In a weeks time all the talk will be over and it will be time to take it onto the field.
With this first piece, I want to address how I view my job and what my priorities are. In short, my primary job is to provide every tool necessary to give our football team the best chance of winning. I have to provide an environment that gives our coaches and players the best conditions possible to get the most out of their talents. A big part of what we do centers around preparation and detail. I can't emphasize enough how detailed and prepared our approach must be entering into every game. Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft, in his book �The Road Ahead� defined information as� the reduction of uncertainty.� Now I don�t know if Bill Gates has ever coached a down in his life, but I have never seen any better definition of coaching than that. It is me and my staff�s job to provide our players with as much �information� as we can to remove any hesitancy or uncertainty about what their responsibilities are.
Now, I know the media loves to call me "Compu-Coach" because of my use of computers. Like with so many other professions, the computer is nothing more that an aid. It allows us to take a large amount of data and condense into a more workable and useful form. More importantly, it is an outstanding teaching tool with which we can pass that data onto the players. In the final analysis, it is not what I as a coach knows, but what my players know and are able to take onto the field.
Next to preparation, I think the most important part of my job is to make sure we develop the proper chemistry between players and coaches. I can look at our roster and see the names of guys who have gone to Pro Bowls, who have been league leaders at their positions, guys who are proven, along with young players who are unproven with unlimited potential, and most importantly, players who have won Super Bowl championships. We have players and coaches from diverse economic, geographic, political, racial and religious backgrounds. In order for us to be successful, I must provide an environment that allows this diversity to come together with a single purpose in mind: Win a Championship. You ask a lot of the players, so they must know that what is good for the individual must be good for the organization, but at the same time what is good for the organization must also be good for the individual.
This is going to be an interesting journey for the Ravens. We're ready to go. Come along for the ride.
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