Sunday, October 10, 1999Rookie QB gives Coslet second chance
Brown will wait and see
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerAll signs point to the Bengals sticking with coach Bruce Coslet as the team makes the switch to rookie quarterback Akili Smith.
The thinking appears to be that the last thing the club needs is a major change as Smith gets his feet wet in the next month. Smith's initiation includes a gritty stretch of AFC Central foes beginning today in Cleveland, continuing next week at home against the Steelers, a pit stop in Indianapolis against Peyton Manning, and then a frightening Halloween matchup at Cinergy Field with Jacksonville.
There's an unspoken sense the Brown family believes Coslet deserves a shot with Smith to see if the team can come alive. That would mean at least a few more games for the coach, and probably until the end of the season if there's a spark.
Three weeks ago, before he bound and gagged himself on the subject of Coslet, Bengals President Mike Brown told The Enquirer he didn't expect miracles from his coach with a rookie quarterback.
Of course, if Tim Couch torches the Bengals for 320 yards in a big Browns' victory today, anything could happen Monday morning. But that would be uncharacteristic of the Bengal way.
And if ESPN or CNNSI or CBS or FOX or the FBI or CIA reports Coslet is imminently gone, forget it. So far, Brown is saying nothing to nobody.
But this coaching staff is under heavy re-evaluation at the moment. Eyebrows have been raised over the winning play of Titans quarterback Neil O'Donnell a season after he failed to make enough big plays for the Bengals to win more than two of his starts.
Questions are being asked why O'Donnell did it for Pittsburgh, the Jets and Tennessee and not here. Plus, other players this staff discarded — Gerald Dixon and Jimmy Spencer of the Chargers for example — have contributed elsewhere. There is also the sense everyone in the organization is under scrutiny if Smith can't turn it around.
About all the Bengals can do is evaluate. The Carl Pickens signing and a spate of injured reserve players have left the Bengals with a little more than $1 million under the salary cap. Those protest signs next week at Cinergy shouldn't allude to cheapness. A total of 14 teams have more under the cap than the Bengals.
FAMILY AFFAIR: How emotional is it for Brown today? The team picture of the 1948 Cleveland Browns hangs behind his desk. Brown can swivel in his chair and become 13 years old again.
“Those are my heroes. Even today they're my heroes,” Brown said. “The later players I respected, but those guys, guys like Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Lou Groza, Otto (Graham) they were just tremendous players. They always thought that was their best team.”
Fast forward to Oct. 10, 1964. Brown's father, Paul, had been fired as coach for the Browns for nearly two years. But there was still a pull for Mike Brown on his wedding day. Which was in Cleveland because that's where he had lived about all his life.
“The Browns were playing the Steelers at night,” Mike Brown said with a smile. “I thought about going, but that would have been bad form. I did listen to it a little bit, though, on the radio.”
Yes, today is Nancy and Mike Brown's 35th wedding anniversary. And he won't have to listen to the Browns on radio today because he can go. But he wouldn't mind the same result. Cleveland lost, 23-7.
THIS AND THAT: Oct. 10 is a big day for Bengal anniversaries. It's the 28th anniversary of quarterback (now offensive coordinator) Ken Anderson's first NFL start, a 23-13 loss at home to the no-name Dolphins' defense. Bengals coach Bruce Coslet, then a tight end, was one of the guys shaking his head in the huddle.
“His eyes were as big as quarters,” Coslet said. “We were saying, "Ahh, a rookie.'” ...
Boomer Esiason's first start was the same week in 1984, a 13-3 win over Houston at home Oct. 7. Jeff Blake's first start was also at home ...
The agent for former Bengals and Browns wide receiver/punt returner Damon Gibson said his client is interested in re-joining the Bengals after Cleveland cut him following the third game.
Gibson took some shots at the Bengals after the Browns took him in the expansion draft, but Nello Gamberdino said the comments were simply of a competitive nature after the Bengals left him unprotected: “If anyone in the organization took those comments the wrong way, Damon would be glad to talk to them.”
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